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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: STEPHEN AYLING <aylingstephen@virgilio.it>
Reply-To: stephenayling@latinmail.com
Date: Tue, 20 Dec 2005 14:17:14 +0100 (GMT+01:00)
Subject: PROPOSITION




Hello,

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 the 31st October 1999 in an Egyptian airline 990 with
other passengers on board. You can confirm this from the website below
which was published by BBC WORLD NEWS.

WEBSITE.
http://news.bbc.co.
uk/1/hi/world/americas/502503.stm.

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,if nobody comes forward
as the next of kin within seven years of the demise of the benefactor
of the will. My purpose of contacting you is to seek your acting as the
beneficiary of the will, and lay claim to the legacy of $7million,
which my deceased client bequeathed to his next-of-kin. For now, I
alone know about his will, as my client had 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 give a huge part of my share to the
tsunami victims,
as this is my primary objective. All I have to do is
amend the will or add a codicil to make you the beneficiary to the
$7million 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.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Yours truly

Stephen Ayling.




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