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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: "TONY MARSHALL" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <tony.marshall.marshall@mail.ru>
Date: Thu, 14 Jan 2016 22:35:10 -0600
Subject: YOURS FAITHFULLY 14TH 2016

 
   My Dearest ,
    
    I am in need of your assistance, I want to make a donation to the poor and; needy through you.My name is MR TONY MARSHALL ,An American citizen,; live in LONDON, right now i am in the hospital, I have been undergoing; treatment for esophageal cancer.I have since lost my ability to talk and my Doctors have told  ME that I have only a few months to live.Before I became ill, I kept US$ 7.5Million in a; long-term deposit account in a finance company in Europe. Now that it; is clear that i will not survive this sickness, I have decided that; i must give my wealth to the poor and needy just for assistance. Mostly if you can donate to motherless, widows and hurricane victims I will ; highly appreciate.Kindly reply me urgent
    Yours sincerely,
    
    TONY  MARSHALL
 

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