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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.

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Fraud email example:

From: "Oliver Meddick" <meddick03@msn.com>
Reply-To: meddickoliver@excite.com
Date: Mon, 19 Dec 2005 03:46:40 +0000
Subject: Be a Legal Successor

Dear Friend,

Greetings to you.

I wish to accost you with a request that would be of immense benefit to
both of us. Being an executor of wills, it is possible that we may be
tempted to make fortune out of our client's situations, when we cannot help
it, or left with no better option. The issue I am presenting to you is a
case of my client who willed a fortune to his next-of-kin. It was most
unfortunate that he and his next-of-kin died on the same day in the Sharja
plane crash of Tuesday 10 February 2004. I am now faced with confusion of
who to pass the fortune to.

According to the English law, the fortune is supposed to be bequeathed to
the government. However, I don't belong to that school of thought which
proposes that the fortune of unlucky people be given to the government.My
purpose of contacting you is to seek your acting as the beneficiary of the
will, and lay claim the legacy of £12.4million, which this unfortunate
client of mine bequeathed to his next-of-kin. For now, I alone know about
his will, as my client has great confidence in me.

Everything will be left between you and I. The share would be 25% for you
and 75% for me. I would want to take care of the needy and less privileged,
as this is my primary objective. All I have to do is amend the will to make
you the beneficiary to the £12.4million legacy.


Again, I feel that you may apprehensive and consider this amount too big for
you to defend. It does not matter, as there are documents to back it up.
This is a legacy being passed on to a next-of-kin. As I am not very sure of
getting your consent on the issue I prefer not to divulge my full identity
so as not to risk being disbarred. The English Bar considers it a breach of
the oath of the English Bar. I
need not emphasize to you that the sensitivity of this issue need not be
toyed with by neglecting its
confidentiality. I therefore appeal to you not discuss this request with
anybody, even if you decline my request.


Until I am sure of your consent and full cooperation, I would prefer that we
maintain correspondence by email. At this point I want to assure you that
your true consent, full cooperation and confidentiality are all that are
required for us to take full advantage of this opportunity.


I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Yours truly

Oliver Meddick.


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