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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: "Jona Micke" <jonamicke2@msn.com>
Reply-To: joe_mic201@yahoo.co.uk
Date: Tue, 10 Jan 2006 13:57:30 +0000
Subject: HAPPY NEW YEAR!ASSIATANT NEEDED

Dear Sir/Ma

Naturally, this letter will come to you as a surprise, since we have
not met, permit me however, I am Barrister Jonathan Bueze, I am contacting
you to kindly assist me in the Project below, which will be of mutual
benefit to us both.

A salvadorean, Mr. Ramirez Cathy, 66 years of age and a very prosperous
farmer made a huge bank deposit for investment in the sum of US$17.5
Million (Seventeen Million, Five hundred Thousand United States
Dollars) he named his wife Mrs. Helga Cathy as the NEXT OF KIN . I was
called upon as an Accredited Attorney to the bank to sign and endorse
documents to thisdeposit on Mr.Cathy's behalf. Unfortunately, Mr. &
Mrs.Cathy were killed in the January 14, earthquake that rocked El Salvador
, killing thousands of people and 1,200 others were declared missing. The
bank management now mandates me (being the
lawyer that signed and endorsed the deposit papers for the deceased
to trace the family relatives of the deceased so that the fund will be
released to them.I was made to understand that they had no children.
I made several efforts through the El Salvador High Commission in Lagos
to contact any of the deceased family relatives, but to no avail.
Failure to reach any of the family relatives of the deceased,the only
option left for the Bank's Management is to declare the deceased account
dormant and revert the fund on trading and investment in the interest of
the bank.

In order to avoid this development since it has so far been impossible to
trace any of the deceased family relatives. I now seek your permission and
assistance to have you stand as a distant relatives to the deceased.
So that the fund can be released to you and we can use it for our mutual
benefit. I hope you do understand my concern in this matter, if we do
not use this opportunity to claim this fund,since the deceased
relatives cannot be traced, the management of the bank will declare the
deceased's account dormant and revert the fund on Trading and Investment in
the interest of the bank.

For your assistance, you will be compensated adequately with (40%) of the
total sum (55%) will be my own share while (5%) will be set aside to cover
any incidental expense made both at home and abroad prior to this
transaction . If you are interested in assisting me with this matter,please
send to me urgently via my EMAIL the following details
below:

*Full name, Company or Private Address
*Telephone and Fax number(s).

Upon receiving the above details from you, I will work out every
documents/proof representing you as the deceased BONA-FIDE distant
relative and when this is done, you will be contacted by the bank for
the release and collection of this fund, which will be within one week of
my receiving the above details from you.I will meet with you in your
country for disbursement after the fund might have been released to you and
also to discuss investment potentials as I will like to invest in your
country with your assistance.

Be assured that this transaction is 100% risk free, as I have taken
care of all necessary modalities to enable a hitch free transaction.
Kindly ensure to treat this matter in strict privacy (Highly Confidential).

Yours sincerely,
Barrister Jonathan Bueze


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