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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: "JOHN KELLY" <joh_kel@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: jkell@gawab.com
Date: Sat, 01 Oct 2005 15:33:48 +0000
Subject: CONSIDER THIS FORTUNE FOR OUR INVESTMENT.

Mr John Kelly

Your response to jkell44@tlen.pl
Sir/Ma;

CONSIDER THIS FORTUNE FOR OUR INVESTMENT.

I am contacting you on business transfer of a huge sum of money from a
deceased account. Though I know that a transaction of this magnitude will
make any one apprehensive and worried, but I am sure that you are
experienced in handling this sums. We decided to contact you due to the
urgency of this transaction.

PROPOSITION;
We discovered an abandoned sum of US$29,500,000.00 (Twenty-Nine Million Five
Hundred United States dollars) in an account that belongs to one of our
foreign customers who paid in these funds into our bank as depository for an
investment program she was involved. She was at our bank five(5) months ago
at the begining of this investment program, but unfortunately she died.

The details of the investment program states that she and she only is in
control of the funds and it was invested out of her corporate estate. Her
family records are not stated in our bank records and in her investment
program contracts. Thus her family are not aware, incidentally she is a
widow.

The rules in our bank here in South Africa puts the money under current Bank
Assets as soon as they do not get communication from the accounts owner
within a stipulated period agreed during the clients accounts opening. In
the case of this customer, she is meant to send banking instructions every
three months. She died barely as noted above and I got to know from my
sources, and her obituary has also stated in the link
below:http://www.herald-journal.com/obits/2004/barnes0104.html

She has been buried and I know no one knows about these funds. Since her
death, none of her next-of-kin or relations has come forward to lay claims
for this money as the heir. We cannot release the fund from her account
unless someone applies for claim as the next-of-kin to the
deceased as indicated in our banking guidelines.

Upon this discovery, we now seek your permission to have you stand as a next
of kin to the deceased as all documentations will be carefully worked out by
us for the funds (US$29,500,000.00) to be released in your favour as the
beneficiary's next of kin. It may interest you to know that we have secured
from the probate an ORDER OF MADAMUS to locate any of deceased
beneficiaries.

NOTE

Please acknowledge receipt of this message in acceptance of our mutual
business endeavour by furnishing the below information to jkell44@tlen.pl
1. Beneficiary name and address
2. Direct Telephone and fax numbers
These requirements will enable us file letter of claim to the appropriate
departments for necessary approvals in your favour before the transfer can
be made. We look forward to your suggestions and
sharing formula. Your share stays while the rest shall be for us for
investment purposes. If this proposal is acceptable by you, we expect that
you will not take undue advantage of the trust we have bestowed in you.

Regards,
Mr John Kelly.


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