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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

The so-called "419" scam is a type of fraud dominated by criminals from Nigeria and other countries in Africa. Victims of the scam are promised a large amount of money, such as a lottery prize, inheritance, money sitting in some bank account, etc.

Victims never receive this non-existent fortune but are tricked into sending their money to the criminals, who remain anonymous. They hide their real identity and location by using fake names and fake postal addresses as well as communicating via anonymous free email accounts and mobile phones.

Keep in mind that scammers DO NOT use their real names when defrauding people.
The criminals either abuse names of real people or companies or invent names or addresses.
Any real people or companies mentioned below have NO CONNECTION to the scammers!

Read more about such scams here or in our 419 FAQ. Use the Scam-O-Matic to verify suspect emails.

Click here to report a problem with this page.

 

 

Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: "mathew.benson@terra.es" <mathew.benson@terra.es>
Date: Fri, 26 Jan 2007 18:45:00 +0100 (MET)
Subject: Assistance Needed!!!



Assistance Needed!!!
26th of Jan. 2007
Dear Eminent Friend,

Compliment of the season to you and your family? I presume that we have not met neither have we communicated before. Firstly, My names are Mr. Mathew Benson. I’m a 65 years old man. I am British living in Dubai (United Arab Emirate). I’m a merchant and owned two businesses in Dubai. I’m married with two children. My wife and two children died in a car accident six years ago. Before this happened my business and concern for making money was all I lived for. I never really cared about other values in life.

But since the loss of my family, i have found a new desire to assist helpless families. I have been helping Orphans in Orphanage/ motherless homes. i have donated some money to orphans in Sudan, south Africa, Cameroon, brazil, Spain, Austria, Germany and some Asian countries.

Before I became ill, I kept some money, Eighteen million Five Hundred Thausand dollars ($18.5million) to be precise in a long term deposit account in a security and finance company in Amsterdum Holland. Presently, I’m in hospital right now. my doctors told me i have porstrate cancer that I have a few months to live. it is my last wish to see this money distributed to charity organizations.

Because so much of my wealth has been plundered by relatives and friends since my illness, I cannot live with the agony of entrusting this huge responsibility to any of them.

Please, I beg you in the name of God to help me collect FUND that i deposit in the security/finance company in Holland Amsterdum and distribute it amongst charity organizations. Use your judgment to distribute the money and keep 10% of it to yourself. Feel free to reimburse yourself when you have the money for any cost you incur during the process of collecting and distributing the money to charity organizations.

I am writing this from my laptop computer in my hospital bed where I wait for my time to come. I pray that God uses you to support and assist me with good heart.

May the good Lord bless you and your family? Please make sure that you direct your reply to {mrmathew_bb904@yahoo.co.uk}
I await your urgent response.

Sincerely,
Mr. Mathew Benson.
PLEASE Reply to MY PRIVATE EMAIL: mrmathew_bb904@yahoo.co.uk





Ahora tambi&eacute;n puedes acceder a tu correo Terra desde el m&oacute;vil.

Inf&oacute;rmate en www.terra.es/correo.






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