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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 and Voluntary Work" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <myrianelena11@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2017 21:10:43 -0700
Subject: RE: CAN I TRUST YOU FOR CHARITY WORK?

My Dear Beloved !
 
Greetings to you and your family. I am Mrs. Myrian Elena Mulligan (KSM) A widow to late Mr. George Mulligan of United State, I am 78 years old, my late Husband was a Director with the Construction Company here before his Sudden Death in 2013, but before his death, he Deposited the Sum of  US$6.5 Million US dollars with one of his Bank in my name and i am suffering from pancreatic cancer, My condition is really bad and it is quite obvious that I won't live more than two months according to my doctors, and we have no Child to inherit our properties and i'm willing to donate the sum of US$6.5 Million US Dollars for you to help widows and the less privileged ones in the rural and urban areas and to carry out charity works in your Country and around the World on my  Behalf. Looking forwards to hearing from you to enable me introduce to my legal adviser who will officially present you to the bank as my next of kin. You can reach me with this email (myrianelena11@gmail.com)
 
My Regards,
Myrian

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