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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: "bruno mbah" <brunombah@hotmail.com>
Date: Sun, 16 Oct 2005 18:42:16 +0000
Subject: ZENITH INTERNATIONAL BANK PLC

MR. PETER AMANGBO
ZENITH INTERNATIONAL BANK PLC
Plot 84, Ajose Adeogun Street
Victoria Island
Lagos, Nigeria.
E-mail:almustafa1942@yahoo.com

Dear Friend,

Courtesy of Business opportunity, I take liberty anchored on strong desire
to solicit for your assistance on this mutual beneficial and risk free
transaction with you, which I hope you give urgent attention. To be precise,
I am Mr. Peter Amangbo the Manager of Bills/Exchange at the Foreign
Exchange/Remittance Department of Zenith International Bank Plc Nigeria. In
my department, we discovered an abandoned sum of US$1,524,000.00 (One
Million, Five Hundred and Twenty Four Thousand United States Dollars) in an
account that belongs to one of our customers who died along with his entire
family aboard Alaska Airline flight number 261, on 31st of January, 2000.
You can read more about Mr. Morris Thompson and his family's death by
clicking on this web:http://www.cnn.com/2000/US/02/01/alaska.airlines.list

Since we got information about his death, we have been expecting his next of
Kin to come over and claim his money, because we can not release it unless
somebody applied for its next of Kin or Relation to the deceased as
indicated in our banking procedure, but unfortunately to no avail, and
nobody has come forward to claim the money (because the mentioned next of
kin which is daugther died as well).Therefore, upon this discovery I now
decide to establish a cordial business relationship with you, hence my
contacting you. I want you to purportedly present your good self as the next
of Kin or relation of the deceased so that I can prepare documentations and
release the funds (US$1.524 Million) into your account for safety and
subsequent disbursement since nobody is coming for it and again I do not
want the funds to go into the Government's account as "Unclaimed Bill".

The banking law and procedures herein stipulates that any account abandoned
or dormant for a period of some years is subjected to be closed and all
money contained therein will be forfeited to the Government Treasury
Account. The reason for you to present your good self as the next of kin is
occassioned by the fact that the deceased customer was a foreigner. Mode of
sharing after the successful completion of the transfer is as follows, for
the role you will be expected to play in the whole exercise, I have agreed
to give you Thirty (30%) of the total sum, and the remaining 70% shall be
for me. In support of the issue at hand, you are urged to reply this letter
indicating your readiness and interest to participate in the business. After
you reply, you will be advised on the next step forward.

I quite believe that you will protect our interest by keeping this business
Top Secret and Confidential, as your interest will be equally protected in
order to achieve and maintain maximum confidentiality. Hope to hear from you
soon as I count on your earliest response only on my private email address:
almustafa1942@yahoo.com.

Yours truly,
MR. PETER AMANGBO.


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