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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: "James Uche" <jamuche003@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: jamuche@freenet.de
Date: Mon, 03 Oct 2005 04:55:01 -1000
Subject: LETTER

>From the Desk of:
MR. JAMES UCHE
Lagos Nigeria.

With great honour I,MR JAMES UCHE Manager of a Bank (name upheld) is writing
in respect of a foreign customer, an Oil consultant/contractor with the
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation(NNPC),Engr.Lee Seunghyo made a
numbered time (Fixed) Deposit for twelve calendar months valued at
S$25,000,000.00 (Twenty-five Million Dollars) in my branch.

Upon honesty, I sent a routine notification to his forwarding address but
got no reply. After a month, I sent a reminder and finally I discovered from
his contract employers, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation that
Engr.Lee Seunghyo died in Korean Air Flight 801, which crashed in Guam on
August 1997 with other passengers onboard. I therefore made further
investigation and discovered that Engr. Lee Seunghyo died without making a
WILL, and all attempts to trace his next of kin was fruitless. Also, he did
not declare any next of kin or relations in all his official
documents,including his Bank Deposit paperwork in my Bank.This sum of
US$25,000,000.00 is still sitting in my Bank and the interest is being
rolled over with the principal sum at the end of each year.

Since the demise of this our customer, I have personally watched the account
with to see the next of kin but all has proved abortive as no one has come
to claim his FIXED DEPOSIT fund of USD.$25million, [Twenty five million
United States Dollars] which has been in my branch for a very
long time.

Hence I have decided to seek your co-operation in this business deal due to
the sensitivity of this transaction. It may interest you to know that I am
only contacting you as a foreigner because this money cannot be approved to
a local Bank account here, but can only be approved to a foreigner with an
account since the money is in US Dollars. I have decided as a matter of
urgency upon this discovery now seek your permission to have you stand as
next of kin to the deceased Engr. Lee Seunghyo as No one has ever come
forward to claim this fund. In accordance to Nigerian Law, fund
deposited for a long period of time without claim will be reverted to the
Nigerian Government treasury if nobody applies to claim this fund after a
long period of time. I want you to co-operate with me so that the fruits of
this man's labour will not get into the hands of some unscrupulous corrupt
government officials if NOT CLAIMED now. I have secured from the probate an
Order
of Madamus to locate any of deceased beneficiaries. Hence I am contacting
you with this proposal.

This is simple, I will like you to provide immediately your full names and
address,Date of Birth, occupation,Tel & Fax Numbers so that the Attorney
will prepare the necessary documents and affidavits which will put you in
place as the next of kin. We shall employ the services of two
Attorneys for drafting and notorization of the WILL and to obtain the
necessary documents and letter of probate/administration in your favour for
the transfer. The Bank cannot release the fund from his account unless
someone applies for claim as the next-of-kin to the deceased as indicated in
our banking guidelines. I have almost resolved to finalize this transaction
with some money to secure documents in your name as the bonafide beneficiary
of this fund $25m which guarantees our safety and successful transfer. With
the above suggestion, It is reliable,safe and quick for transfer
process.

At the successful conclusion of this business, your goodself shall be
entitled to an agreed percentage of the total money while I will have the
balance. I am ready to invest a reasonable percentage of mine into any
viable business you suggest as a joint partner.

Your response is highly imperative as this is a TWO-man business deal
transaction as I shall then provide you with more details and relevant
documents that will help you understand the transaction. I need your
assistance and co-operation to this reality as I have done my Home-work
and fine tune the best way to create you as the next of kin.All the
paperwork for this transaction will be done by the Attorney and my position
as the Branch Manager guarantees the successful execution of this
transaction with you as the beneficiary to this fund. Your percentage will
also be a source of upliftment.I will want to guarantee you that this
business is riskfree as I have mapped out all modalities to succeed.

I will appreciate your early reply for commencement of this business.Contact
me for acknowledgement by E-mail and whereby you are not interested, please
indicate in your reply so that I can seek for the assistance of someone
else.

Thanks for your expected co-operation and treat ASAP as your utmost
Trust,Honesty and confidentiality will be highly appreciated in this
business deal transaction.

Thanks with great regards.

MR. JAMES UCHE


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