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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: Mother Estel Joseph <estel-joseph@officecommission.com>
Date: Sun, 04 Apr 2010 12:37:33 +0200
Subject: Hello




HELLO,

=A0

I am Mother=A0Estel Joseph, 61 years old Kuwait widow.=A0I am =20
contacting you in good faith for a donation which I want to offer you =20
so that you will=A0help me establish an orphanage home with the sum of =20
US$5 Million that my late husband deposited in a prime bank here in =20
Ivory Coast. I was married to late=A0Mr. Coupet Joseph=A0for 31 years =20
without any child, since his death I decided not to re-marry.

=A0

My late husband a great cocoa merchant was killed by rebel forces =20
last=A06 years ago and right now I am very old and sick in the hospital =20
where I am undergoing treatment for esophageal cancer at the moment =20
hence my sickness has been confirmed beyond treatment owing to the =20
recent diagnose report which said that I may not leave more than two =20
more months.

=A0

There is no doubt am going to die that is why I have sent this =20
email seeking your kind gesture to please claim the deposit instead of =20
it to lost there because I know that there will be no kind of help =20
someone can give to a dying woman like me at this point than to claim =20
the said deposit from the security company where it was deposited by =20
my late husband.

=A0

When my case was announced to my hearing by the doctors after =20
keeping it to themselves for sometime, I was challenged after watching =20
CNN news about one Mr. Buffett, an American rich man who donated about =20
84% of his whole wealth to the service of humanity and charity so =20
after I watched the news, I asked myself a question "if a healthy man =20
without sickness can take this kind of step for humanitarian service, =20
how much more myself, who have been confirmed at the door post of =20
death? At this point I came to the decision of using the deposit my =20
late husband left behind to contribute to charity and humanitarian =20
service.

=A0

Please understand why I do not wish to entrusting this huge =20
responsibility to any relative and friends of my late husband is =20
because they have plundered and wasted so much of his wealth which =20
they inherited since his death and my illness, and now I cannot =20
imagine the agony of plundering this last opportunity for contributing =20
my own quota by showing love and affection to those less privileged =20
children out there with no one to care=A0for=A0them. Get back to me with =20
your=A0full contact information and photograph as soon as you receive =20
this email so that I can send an official letter to the bank now to =20
introduce you as the person I have WILLED to inherit the whole money =20
in the account.

=A0

May the Lord be with you.

=A0I wait to hear from you soonest.

=A0

Kind regards
Mrs. Estel Joseph.

=A0

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