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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: "Franco Agopyan" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <francoagop12@rediffmail.com>
Date: Wed, 5 May 2010 16:22:54 -0400
Subject: READ CAREFULLY AND RESPOND URGENT

Good Day,
 
This is a personal email directed to you and I request that it be treated
as such. I am Franco Agopyan, a solicitor at law. I am the personal
attorney/sole executor to a late client who worked as an independent oil
magnate in my country and who died in a car crash with his immediate
family on the 4th of Oct 2000. Since the death of my client in Oct 2000, I
have made efforts to locate any of his extended relatives whom shall be
claimants/beneficiaries of his abandoned personal estate and all such
efforts have been to no avail.
 
More so, I have received official letters in the last few weeks suggesting
a likely proceeding for confiscation of his abandoned personal assets in
line with existing laws by the bank in which my client deposited the sum
of Nine Million Eight Hundred Thousand United States Dollars (US$9, 800,
000). On this note I decided to search for a credible person and finding
that you bear a similar last name, I decided to contact you, that I may,
with your consent, present you to the "trustee" bank as my late client's
surviving family member so as to enable you put up a claim to the bank in
that capacity as a next of kin of my client.
 
I find this possible for the fuller reasons that you bear a similar last
name with my client making it a lot easier for you to put up a claim in
that capacity. I propose that 35% of the net sum will accrue to you at the
conclusion of this deal in so far as I do not incur further expenses.
Therefore, to facilitate the immediate transfer of this fund, you need,
first to contact me via signifying your interest and as soon as I obtain
your confidence, I will immediately appraise you with the complete details
as well as fax you the documents, with which you are to proceed and I
shall direct on how to put up an application to the bank.
 
However, you will have to accent to an express agreement, which I will
forward to you in order to bind us in this transaction. Upon the receipt
of your reply, I will send you by fax or E-mail the next step to take. I
will not fail to bring to your notice that this proposal is hitch-free and
that you should not entertain any fears as the required arrangements have
been made for the completion of this transfer. Like I have implied, I
require only a solemn confidentiality on this.
 
Best regards,
 
Franco Agopyan
 

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