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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.

 

 

Fraud email example:

From: "lombardi mosesadams" <lombardi@mosesadams.com>
Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2005 14:03:36 +0000
Subject: Good Day Sir///

Good day,

I am Mr.Lombardi Moses Adams, staff of International Private Banking at HSBC
Bank.I am contacting you concerning a deceased customer and an investment he
placed under our banks management three years ago.I would respectfully
request that you keep the contents of this mail confidential and respect the
integrity of the information you come by as a result of this mail.
I contacted you independently of our investigation and no one is informed of
this communication. I would like to intimate you with certain facts that I
believe would be of interest to you.In 2000,
the subject matter; came to our bank to engage in business discussions with
our private banking division.He informed us that he had a financial
portfolio of eight million three hundred and fifty thousand million united
states dollars,which he wished to have us turn over (invest) on his behalf.I
was the officer assigned to his case, I was made numerous suggestions in
line with my duties as the de-facto chief operations officer of the private
banking sector, especially given the volume of funds he wished to put into
our bank.
We met on numerous occasions prior to any investments being placed. I
encouraged him to consider various growth funds with prime ratings. The
favored route in my advise to customers is to start by assessing data on
6000 traditional stocks and bond managers and 2000 managers of alternative
investments. Based on my advice, We spun the money around various
opportunities and made attractive margins for our first months of operation,
the accrued profit and interest stood at this point at over ten million
United States Dollars, this margin was not the full potential of the fund
but he desired low risk guaranteed returns on
investments.
In mid 2001, he asked that the money be liquidated
because he needed to make an urgent investment requiring cash payments in
here in the united kingdom. He directed that I liquidate the funds and
deposit it with a security firm in here london. I informed him that HSBC
would have to make special arrangements to have this done and in order not
to circumvent due process, the bank would have to make a 9.5 % deduction
from the funds to cater for banking and statutory charges. He complained
about the charges but later came around when I explained to him the
complexities of the task he was asking of us. Cash movement across boarders
has become especially strict since the incidents of 9/11. I contacted my
affiliate in here in london and made the funds available to the security
firm.

I undertook all be the processes and made sure I followed his precise
instructions to the letter and had the funds deposited at the london based
security consultancy firm,Corporate Securities Co. Corporate Securities Co
is a specialist private firm that accepts deposits from high net worth
individuals and blue chip corporations that handle valuable products or
undertake transactions that need immediate access to cash. This small and
highly private organization is familiar especially to the highly placed and
well-connected organizations. In line with instructions, the money was
deposited with Corporate Securities Co. The deceased told me he wanted the
money there in anticipation of his arrival from Norway
later that week. This was the last communication we had, this transpired
around 25th February 2003.

In June last year, we got a call from Corporate
Securities Co informing us that the activity of that particular portfolio.
This was an astounding position as far as I was concerned, given the fact
that I managed the private banking sector I was the only one who knew about
the deposit at Corporate Securities Co, and I could not understand why the
deceased had not come forward to claim his deposit. I made futile efforts to
locate the deceased. I immediately passed the task of locating him to the
internal investigations department of HSBC. Four days later, information
started to trickle in, apparently our client was dead. A person who suited
his description was declared dead of a heart attack in Cannes, South of
France.
We were soon enough able to identify the body and
cause of death was confirmed. The bank immediately launched an investigation
into possible surviving next of kin to alert about the situation and also to
come forward to claim his estate. If you are familiar with private banking
affairs, those who patronize our services usually prefer anonymity, but also
some levels of detachment from conventional processes. In his bio-data form,
he listed no next of kin. In the field of private banking, opening an
account with us means no one will know of its existence, accounts are rarely
held under a name; depositors use numbers and codes to make the accounts
anonymous.
This bank also gives the choice to depositors of having their mail sent to
them or held at the bank itself, ensuring that there are no traces of the
account and as I said, rarely do they nominate next of kin. Private banking
clients apart from not nominating next of kin also usually in most cases
leave wills in our care, in this
case; the deceased died without a testate.
In line with our internal processes for account holders who have passed
away,

we instituted our own investigations in good faith to determine who should
have right to claim the estate. This investigation has for the past months
been unfruitful. We have scanned every continent and used our private
investigation affiliate companies to get to the root of the problem. It is
this investigation that resulted in my being furnished with your details as
a possible relative of the deceased. My official capacity dictates that I am
the only party to supervise the investigation and the only party to receive
the results of the investigation. What this means, you being the last batch
of names we have considered, is that our dear late. Mr.A. Filex died with no
known or identifiable family member. This leaves me as the only person with
the full picture of what the prevailing situation is in
relation to the deposit and the late Mr.A. Filex beneficiary of the deposit.
According to practice, Corporate Securities Co will by the end of this
financial year broadcast a request for statements of claim to HSBC,
failing to receive viable claims they will most probably revert the deposit
back to HSBC. This will result in the money entering the HSBC
accounting system and the portfolio will be out of my hands and out of the
private banking division. This will not happen if I have my way.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.

I alone have the deposit details and they will release the deposit to no one
unless I instruct them to do so. I alone know of the existence of this
deposit for as far as HSBC is concerned, the transaction with our late
customer concluded when
I sent the funds to corporate securities,
all outstanding interactions in relation to the file are just customer
services and due process. Corporate Securities Co has no single idea of
whats the history or nature of the deposit. They are simply awaiting
instructions to release the deposit to any party that comes forward. This is
the situation. This bank has spent great amounts of money trying to track
this mans family; they have investigated for months and have found no
family. The investigation has come to an end.My proposal; you share similar
details to the late Mr.A. Filex; I am prepared to place you in a position to
instruct Corporate Securities Co to release the deposit to you as the
closest surviving relation. Upon receipt of the deposit,I am prepared to
share the money with you in half.
That is: I will simply nominate you as the next of kin and have them 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. I assure you that I could
have the deposit released to you within a few days. I will simply inform the
bank of the final closing of the file relating to the deceased I will then
officially communicate with Corporate Securities Co and instruct them to
release the deposit to you. With these two things: all is done.
The alternative would be for us to have Corporate Securities Co direct the
funds to another bank with you as account holder. This way
there will be no need for you to think of receiving the money from Corporate
Securities Co. We can fine-tune this based on our interactions. I am aware
of the consequences of this proposal. I ask that if you find no interest in
this project that you should discard this mail. I ask that you do not be
vindictive and destructive. If my offer is of no appeal to you,delete this
message and forget I ever contacted you. Do not destroy my career because
you do not approve of my proposal.
You may not know this but people like myself who have made tidy sums out of
comparable situations run the whole private banking sector. I am not a
criminal and what I do, I do not find against good conscience,
this may be hard for you to understand, but the dynamics of my industry
dictates that I make this move. Such opportunities only come ones' way once
in a lifetime. I cannot let this chance pass me by, for once I find myself
in total control of my destiny. These chances wont pass me by. I ask that
you do not destroy my chance, if you will not work with me let me know and
let me move on with my life but do not destroy me. I am a family man and
this is an opportunity to provide them with new opportunities. There is a
reward for this project and it is a task well worth undertaking.
I have evaluated the risks and the only risk I have here is from you
refusing to work with me and alerting my bank. I am the only one who knows
of this situation,
good fortune has blessed you with a name that has planted you into the
center of relevance in my life. Lets share the blessing.If you find yourself
able to work with me,
contact me through this same email account. If you give me positive
signals,

I will initiate this process towards a conclusion. I wish to inform you that
should you contact me via official channels;
I will deny knowing you and about this project.
I repeat, I do not want you contacting me through my official phone lines
nor do I want you contacting me through my official email account. Contact
me only through the numbers I will provide for you and also through this
Email address: I do not want any direct link between you and me. My official
lines are not secure lines as they are periodically monitored to assess our
level of customer care in line with our Total Quality Management Policy.
Please observe this instruction religiously. Please, again, note I am a
family man, I have a wife and children.

I send you this mail not without a measure of fear as to what the
consequences, but I know within me that nothing ventured is nothing gained
and that success and riches never come easy or on a platter of gold.

This is the one truth I have learnt from my private banking clients. Do not
betray my confidence. If we can be of one accord, we should plan a meeting,
soon. I await your response.

Mr.Lombardi Moses Adams



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