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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: "Mr. Young" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mathew.young@cubeconsults.biz>
Date: Wed, 16 Nov 2011 03:49:21 -0000
Subject: Partnership Request!

Dearest Friend,

Please do accept my sincere apologies if my e-mail does not meet your personal ethics as I wish to use this medium to get in touch with you first. My name is Matthew Young, and i am a financial consultant and business analyst based in London, United Kingdom.I was the former financial consultant and analyst to an American investor who unfortunately lost his life in the Concorde AF4590 airplane which crashed on the 25th of July 2000, including his wife and his only daughter.For more info about the crash you can visit this site: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/859479.stm

I have decided to contact you purely on the personal conviction of trust and confidence to assist and partner with me in claiming the funds left behind by my client. My deceased client, had a deposit of Fifteen Million, Five Hundred Thousand British Pound Sterling (GBP 15.5 Million) which I helped him and deposited in one of the leading banks here in London two years before his untimely death. Being his former financial and business consultant,I still possess the evidence and the whole paper documents of this deposit with his bank and hence the bank has issued me a notice to provide his next of kin or beneficiary, otherwise the account would be dormant and hence the funds confiscated, since nobody has come forward to lay claims on the money since his death.

My search for his relative has not been successfull and hence ,why i seek your consent and to present you as a relative/next-of-kin and beneficiary to my late client, so that the proceeds of this account could be paid to you and we then share the money on a mutually agreed-upon percentage, 60% to me and 40% to you. Kindly note that all legal documents to back up your claim as my late client's next-of-kin will be provided, what i require is your honest cooperation to enable us see this transaction through. Moreover, this transaction will be executed under a legitimate arrangement that will protect you from any breach of the law. Also I must use this opportunity to implore you to exercise the utmost indulgence to keep this matter extraordinary confidential, whatever your decision is, do let me know as soon as possible.

Best regards,
Matt Young

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