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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: "helendunn20@hotmail.fr" <helendunn20@hotmail.fr>
Date: Mon, 28 Jun 2010 06:09:28 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: From Miss Helen Dunn




From Miss Helen Dunn
Abidjan, Ivory Coast
West Africa.


Dearest One

It's my pleasure to contact you for a business venture which I intend to establish in your country, though I have not met with you before but I believe one has to risk, confiding in someone to succeed sometimes in life.

There is this huge amount of money United State Dollars (USD$8.700, 000.00) which I inherit from my late father, in a Security company here in Cote 'd lvoire before he was assassinated by unknown persons.

Now I decided to invest this money in your country or anywhere safe enough outside Africa for security purposes. I want you to help me to transfer this fund into your country for investment purposes.

If you can be of assistance to me I will be pleased to offer you 20% of the total fund. Thank you and God bless you.
From Miss Helen Dunn



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