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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: "Leroy Frankwood" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <fwd1120111@hotmail.com>
Date: Thu, 4 Aug 2011 11:06:47 -0400
Subject: RE: PASSIONATE PLEA

From Mr.Leroy Frankwood
Mobile Number:+447035964597
Dear friend I am Mr.Leroy Frankwood From Harlsden, North West London ,
 
here in England. I work for Natwest Bank Corporation London. I am
 
writing you from my office and this will be of an immense benefit to
 
both of us. In my department,being the assistant manager (Greater
 
London Regional Office), I discovered an abandoned sum of £13.4
 
Million Great British Pounds(Thirteen Million,Four Hundred Thousand
 
Great British Pound Sterling ) in an account that belongs to one of
 
our foreign customers Late Mr. Thompson Morrison an American citizen
 
who unfortunately lost his life in the plane crash of Alaska Airlines
 
Flight 261 which crashed on January 31 2000, including his wife and
 
only daughter. 
 
The choice of contacting you is aroused from the geographical nature
 
of where you live, particularly due to the sensitivity of the
 
transaction. and the confidentiality herein. Now our bank has been
 
waiting for any of the relatives to come-up for the claim but nobody
 
has done that. I personally has been unsuccessful in locating the
 
relatives for 2 years now, I seek your consent to present you as the
 
next of kin /Will Beneficiary to the deceased so that the proceeds of
 
this account valued at 13.4 Million Pounds can be paid to you. 
  
This will be disbursed or shared in these percentages,60% to me and
 
40% to you. I have secured all necessary legal documents that can be
 
used to back up this claim we are making. All i need is to fill in
 
your names to the documents and legalize it in the court here to prove
 
you as the legitimate beneficiary. All I require now is your honest
 
Co-operation, Confidentiality and Trust to enable us see this
 
transaction through. I guarantee you that this will be executed under
 
a legitimate arrangement that will protect you from any breach of the
 
law.
  
Please provide me the following: as we have limited time to run it
 
through. this is very URGENT PLEASE.
1. Your Full Name
2. Your Telephone Numbers
3. Your Contact Address
4. Your Date of Birth
5. Your Occupation
 
Having gone through a methodical search, I decided to contact you
 
hoping that you will find this proposal interesting. Please on your
 
confirmation of this message and indicating your interest will furnish
 
you with more information. Endeavor to let me know your decision as
 
soon as possible.
 
Regards,
Mr.Leroy Frankwood
Mobile Number:+447035964597

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