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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: "loping wing" <lopingwing@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: wing@netcitycn.com
Date: Sat, 22 Oct 2005 08:32:23 +0000
Subject: PARTNERSHIP

I am Mr.Lo Ping Wing, Bank Official of Macau Chinese bank, Macau
Branch,Macau, China. I have urgent and very confidential business
proposition for you. An Oil consultant/contractor with the China Petroleum
and Chemical Corp. made a numbered time (Fixed) Deposit for twelve calendar
months, valued at US$128,000,000.00 (One Hundred and Twenty eight Million
Dollars) in my branch. Upon maturity, I sent a routine notification to his
forwarding address but got no reply. After a month, we sent a reminderand
finally we discovered from his contract employers that the consultant died
from an automobile accident. On further investigation, I found out that he
died without making a WILL, and all attempts to trace his next of kin was
fruitless, and I beleive this might be due to the reasoning that he might
have used a fictitous Identity to open the account.I therefore made further
investigation and discovered that the consultant did not declare any kin or
relations in all his official documents, including his Bank Deposit
paperwork in my Bank. This sum of US$128,000,000.00 is still sitting in my
Bank and the interest is being rolled over with the principal sum at the end
of each year. No one will ever come forward to claim it. According to Laws
of Republic of China, at the expiration of 5 (five) years, the money will
revert to the ownership of the Chinese Government if nobody applies to claim
the fund. Consequently, my proposal is that I will like you as a foreigner
to stand in as the next of kin to the deceased consultant so that the fruits
of this old man's labor will not get into the hands of some corrupt
government officials. This is simple, I will like you to provide immediately
your full names and address so that the attorney will prepare the necessary
documents and affidavits that will put you in place as the next of kin. We
shall employ the services of an attorney for drafting and notarization of
the WILL and to obtain the necessary documents and letter of
probate/administration in your favor for the transfer. A bank account in any
part of the world that you will provide will then facilitate the transfer of
this money to you as the beneficiary/next of kin. The money will be paid
into your account for us to share in the ratio of 90% for me and 10% for
you.We can recommend a Swiss bank where that can contact you if we send your
email to them as regards opening an online account with them. There is no
risk at all as all the paperwork for this transaction will be done by the
attorney and my position as the Bank Official guarantees the successful
execution of this transaction. If you are interested, please reply
immediately via the private email address above. Upon your response, I shall
then provide you with more details and relevant documents that will help you
understand the transaction. Please send me your confidential telephone and
fax numbers for easy communication. Please observe utmost confidentiality,
and rest assured that this transaction would be most profitable for both of
us because I shall require your assistance to invest my share in your
country. Awaiting your urgent reply via my email address.
Thanks and regards.

Mr.Lo Ping Wing


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