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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.

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

Fraud email example:

From: natasha abbey <natasha_abbey888@hotmail.com>
Date: Mon, 21 May 2007 14:55:57 +0100
Subject: From Miss Natasha Abbey



From Miss Natasha Abbey Address: Commune de Koumassi, Ville de Abidjan, Rue H122, Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Dearest One, It is my pleasure to write you after much consideration, since I cannot be able to see you face to face at first. I am the only daughter of my father, late Mr. Mukhtar Abbey from Liberia West Africa (WA) I am 23 years of age. My father was a limited liability Diamond and Gold merchant in Monrovia,Liberia before his untimely death after a business trip to abidjan to negotiate a good business he wanted to invest in abidjan. A week after he came back from abidjan , he got an accident with my mother of which my mother died instantly but my father died after five days in a private hospital.On that faithful afternoon, I didnt know that my father was going to leave me after I had lost my mother, but before he gave up the ghost, it was as if he knew he was going to die. He,my father(MAY HIS SOUL REST IN PERFECT PEACE) disclosed to me that he deposited the sum of $36,000,000,00 Dollars (Thirty-six Million U.S Dollars) in a bank here in abidjan. He said that the money was meant for a new Diamond and Gold company he wanted to establish in abidjan. He handed me the deposit certificate and instructed me to look for a life-time God-fearing foreign person who will stand as my guardian and see that the money is invested wisely and my academic career taken care of. Now I have succeeded in locating the bank there in abidjan,Ivory Coast and they have also confirmed that the money is still in existence. Now I am pleading for your assistance to help me get this money out from abidjan to a safe account in your country so that I can secure admission into one of the various universities in your country.This is my only hope in life and I don't want to toil with it. I am willing to offer you 20% of the total fund if you wish so long as you can help me out of my present predicament. Awaiting anxiously to hear from you . I wait for your immediate reply for more details. Yours sincerely, Natasha Abbey.
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