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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: "KA LING" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <kkaaling@aol.com>
Date: Mon, 28 Jun 2010 16:08:14 +0200
Subject: FROM: MR. KA LING -

Complement of the day,

It is with excitement and hope that we can both work together that I write you this mail today. I am staff of Xiamen International Bank attached in Private Banking services; I am contacting you in reference to an investment opportunity which I believe would be of significant reward to the parties involved. It concerns a customer that came to our bank to engage in Private Banking services, the customer had a financial portfolio of US$23,000,000.00 and he desired to have us turn over on his behalf in the purchase of securities in the capital markets. I was assigned as Bank adviser to assist him in the management of these funds. Been my duty to offer strategic advisory services to the customer, I made him consider the various investment opportunity available at the Bank at that time.

Having given heed to my advice, I had the funds dispersed over the available investment opportunities and we made attractive margins. The margins made were not however the full potential of the funds, but the customer desired low risk guaranteed returns on investments. I was also given instruction to liquidate the funds after 4 years for some Investment requiring cash payments in Europe mainland. Following that order, the portfolio liquidate and the total investment stand at US$23,995,720.00, this amount had remain dormant for more than five years so the bank launch an investigation to contact the customer for some final instructions but could not reach him anymore and later found out that he died in a Saudi Arabia hospital.

What I wish to relate to you will smack of unethical practice but I want you to understand something. It is only an outsider to the banking world who finds the internal politics of the banking world aberrational. The world of private banking especially is fraught with huge rewards for those who occupy certain offices and oversee certain portfolios. You should have begun by now to put together the general direction of what I propose. There US$23,995,720.00 deposited, I alone have the deposit details and they will release the deposit to no one unless I instruct them to do so. This bank has spent great amounts of money trying to track this man's family; they have investigated for months and have found no family, the investigation has come to an end and Since the original owner listed no next of kin in his bio-data form, my proposition is this; I am prepared to place you in a position to instruct my Bank to release the deposit to you as the closest
beneficiary.

I am prepared to place you in a position of the beneficiary and release the deposit to you as the closest surviving partner. Upon receipt of the deposit, I will share the money with you in half, this means I will simply nominate you as the beneficiary and have then release the deposit to you. We share the proceeds 50/50. I would have gone ahead to ask the funds be released to me, but that would have drawn a straight line to me and my involvement in claiming the deposit. But you as a foreigner and also with all the necessary legal and official documentations from me and also with the authority vested upon me by the original depositor, you would easily pass as the beneficiary with the rights to claim. I assure you that I could have the deposit released to you in a few days. Please do not ruin this chance for me if you do not approve of the transaction. If you do not give this transaction a positive approval, kindly delete this email and let me move on with
my life.

If you give me positive signals, I will initiate this process towards conclusion. My email contact is kkaaling@aol.com or kkaaling@yahoo.com.hk

Regards,

Ka Ling.

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