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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.

Click here to report a problem with this page.

 

 

Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: Mrs Sonia Michel <mrssoniamich@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 9 Mar 2022 16:46:42 +0100
Subject: It is by the grace of God

My Greetings and I need your prayers,

This letter might be a surprise to you, But I believe that you will be
honest to my final wish. I bring peace and love to you. It is by the grace
of God, I had no choice than to do what is lawful and right in the sight of
God for eternal life and in the sight of man to witness God's mercy and
glory upon mey life. My dear, I sent this mail praying it will find you in
a good condition, since I myself am in a very critical health condition in
which I sleep every night without knowing if I may be alive to see the next
day. I am Mrs Sonia Michel, a widow suffering from a long illness. I have
some funds I inherited from my late husband, the sum of US$ 8.5m (Eight
Million Five hundred Thousand Dollars) my Doctor told me recently that I
have serious sickness which is a cancer problem. What disturbs me most is
my stroke sickness. Having known my condition, I decided to donate this
fund to a good person that will utilize it the way I am going to instruct
herein. I need a very honest and God fearing person who can claim this
money and use it for Charity works, for orphanages and gives justice and
help to the poor, needy and widows and also build schools for less
privilege that will be named after my late husband if possible and to
promote the word of God and the effort that the house of god is maintained.

I do not want the bank to sit on the money. I also don't want a situation
where this money will be used in an ungodly manner. That's why I'm making
this decision. I'm not afraid of death, so I know where I'm going. I accept
this decision because I do not have any child who will inherit this money
after I die. Please I want your sincere and urgent answer to know if you
will be able to execute this project, and I will give you more information
on how the fund will be transferred to your bank account. May the grace,
peace, love and the truth in the Word of God be with you and all those that
you love and care for, I am waiting for your reply to my email via

Regards,
Mrs Sonia Michel

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