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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: "Charity Project" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mariantompson1962@hotmail.com>
Date: Sun, 10 Jun 2012 06:19:04 -0500
Subject: Dearest Beloved

Dear Beloved

I am Mrs. Marian Tompson from England. I am childless and a widow. I am married to late Engr.Richard Tompson of blessed memory who worked with British Embassy in Kuwait for Twelve years and retired as an oil merchant, before he died in 2006. After the death of my husband, I decided not to re-marry or get a child outside my matrimonial home.

I fought against cancer with 4 years after his death, fibroid problems and hearing impairment as a result of drug reactions. We were married for Twelve years without children. He died after a short illness. Recently, my doctor told me that I would not last long in the next 3 months because of my illness with cancer.I have a deposit of $28.3 Million Dollars (Twenty Eight Three Hundred Thousand United States Dollars) with a bank in England. I want to invest these funds into charity organization. In short I want to use it to improve humanity. I am taking this decision because I do not have a child who will inherit this money and I can not believe my relatives, because they were hostile to me, since I have been suffering from cancer.

As soon as I receive your reply, I shall inform my lawyer to help you with the release of the funds to you. I want you to exclusively use this fund to help the less privileged and build orphanage homes.The grace of God encouraged me to take this bold step.Please also assure me that you will act accordingly as I stated herein.

Reply me at my private e-mail: mariantompson@hotmail.com

God bless you
Mrs.Marian Tompson

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