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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: Linda Wilson <linda01wilson@gmail.com>
Reply-To: Linda Wilson <lindawilson20000@hotmail.com>
Date: Mon, 12 Jan 2015 14:51:24 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: Happy new year


 Dear One,It is my pleasure to acquaint you with this proposal for the purpose of investment in your company. I am Miss Linda Wilson the only daughter of late George Wilson with my brother Kone Wilson the only son.we are from Cote d'ivoire. My late father was a Gold and Diamond merchant based in Cote d'ivoire. As a result of the political instability of Cote d'ivoire 2011, my late father went to Lome Togo republic with a sum of ( $12.5 million USD) when he was alive, he had a deposit with one of the Security Company here in Lome Togo the The money is kept on behalf of foreign partner which was not mention to the Security Company before his untimely death. I am here seeking for an avenue to transfer this money to a reliable and trustworthy individual for investment programmes. We are here as a refugee because of the political crisis in our Country Cote d'ivoire. Please I would offer you 20% of the total sum of $12.5 million USD for your assistance. Please we need to transfer this money urgently because delay would not help at all and we need to relocate to your country based on the political instability over here in this sub-region, to enable us continue our education because we were students before the sudden death of our father. Your immediate response would be appreciated,please email us back for more details.Please kindly come for our help,we are not going to let you down for any reason.Help us we are going brain drain over here, due to we are no more going to school,we need to come over to your country to continue our education. Best regards,  lindawilson20000@gmail.comMiss Linda and Kone Wilson. 

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