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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: "Mary Amado" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mary.amado19542@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2011 20:28:47 -0500
Subject: Hello Friend..

Dear Beloved in Christ,

It is by the grace of God that I received Christ, having known the truth;I had no choice than to do what is lawful and just in the sight of God for eternal life and in the sight of man for witness of God & His Mercies and glory upon my life.I am Mrs.Mary Amado,the wife of Mr.Tony Amado,both of us are citizens of the united state of America.. my husband worked with the Chevron/Texaco in Hong Kong for twenty years before hedied in the year 2000.We were married for ten years without a child. My Husband died after a brief illness that lasted for only four days. Before his death we both got born-again as dedicated Christians.

Since his death I decided not to re-marry or get a child outside my matrimonial home which the Bible is strongly against.When my late husband was alive he deposited the sum of (FOURTEEN MILLION POUNDS) with a Bank in Europe. Presently, this money is still with the Bank and the management just wrote me as the beneficiary that our account has been DORMANT and if I, as the beneficiary of the funds, do not re- activate the account; the funds will be CONFISCATED or I rather issue a letter of authorization to somebody to receive it on my behalf (note that you need to activate his account) as I can not come over. Presently,

I'm in a hospital in Hong Kong where I have been undergoing treatment for throat cancer. have since lost my ability to talk and my doctors have told me that I have only a few weeks to live.It is my last wish to see this money distributed to charity organizations and NGO anywhere in the World in helping human race.Because relatives and friends have plundered so much of my wealth 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 Stand-in as the beneficiary and collect the Funds from the Bank.I want a person that is God-fearing who will use this money to fund churches, orphanages and widows propagating the word of God and to ensure that the house of God is maintained.The Bible made us to understand that blessed is the hand that giveth. I took this decision because I don't have any child that will inherit this money and my husband's

relatives I await your quick response to this mail as this is my last wish to see this funds transferred before my Death. Please my beloved for further communication on how we are going to conclude this,

Your Sister in Christ,
Mrs. Mary Amado.
Email: mary.amado19542@gmail.com




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