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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: Anna Kouakou <annakouakou68@yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2015 16:38:12 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: From Anna Kouakou.


Dear My name is Anna Kouakou from Cote d'Ivoire. I lived in Cote d'Ivoire with my lovely parents who died last month on a car accident. After the burial of my late parents, I have decided to relocate to to your country to invest my late father's funds worth 16,500,000.00 USD into a good business and also continue my education. I am 18 years old and I don't have any business knowledge due to my focus on my educational career. 
Presently, the 16,500,000.00 USD is deposited on a bank here in Cote d'Ivoire and I want you to help me transfer the money from here to your bank account for investments. I want you to help me invest the money into any good business of your choice. I am willing to offer you 20% of the total money as compensation for your services. The remaining 80% will be invested into a good business.Any profit realized from the investment returns will be shared 50/50 and we can make a contract agreement on this aspect before we continue.
The money will be transferred to your bank account and you will manage it and also serve as my guardian. Once you respond, I will send you my photos and some documents to prove the existence of the funds. I speak french and english.
Best regards,Anna Kouakou


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