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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: Magna Bamba <magna_bamba2002@yahoo.fr>
Date: Wed, 4 Nov 2015 12:51:01 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: Greetings



Greetings,

My name is Mrs Magna Bamba from Sierra-Leone but presently,I live in Abidjan Cote d Ivoire with my only child, PATRICK, a 17 years old boy. I am seriously suffering from a long time cancer of the breast.Last week, my doctor told me that he has tried his best to save my life but to no avail.He told me that I may not live beyond two months. Before the death of my husband,he deposited the sum of $7.5 million Dollars in one of the commercial banks here in Cote d'Ivoire.

Because of the doctor's advise that i will not live beyond two months,I have decided to give give you this money as a donation for God's work.I would want you to use part of this money to take care of my only son,PATRICK and also to invest the remaining money in a viable and profitable business of your choice. You should distribute the proceeds of the investment each year among charity organizations such as the churches, the motherless babies homes and the less privileged people in the society.
This is a very hard decision for me to take but I have no option than to do the Lord's WILL.
Please Write me back for more details as soon as you receive this message.
Yours beloved sister,
Mrs.Magna Bamba

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