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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: "johnson eze" <ejohnson_nal1@msn.com>
Reply-To: ejohnson_nal@hotmail.com
Date: Thu, 15 Dec 2005 09:25:13 +0000
Subject: IMPERATIVE MESSAGE FROM MR. JOHNSON

From The Desk: Mr. Johnson Eze
Manager of International Relations
Nal Merchant Bank Limited.
Plot 106/108 Broad Street,
Lagos Island, Lagos,
Nigeria.
Alternative Emails: ejohnson_nal@hotmail.com
                                   ejohnson_nal@yahoo.com
Telephone: +234 803 258 9292.
 
13th December 2005.
 
Greetings,
 
May I use this great opportunity to introduce my humble self to you. I am Mr. Johnson Eze. I am a banker in the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and I am the Manager of International Relations of the Nal Merchant Bank Limited. I am a responsible 38-year-old-man, so I hope you will carefully read through my email and reply me immediately. I am married with four children, and I got your email contact from the internet and, after studying your antecedent, my confidence reposed on you; so I thought I should write directly to you in order to secure your trust and elicit your interest for a huge sum of money I wish to transfer into your foreign account.
 
My dear, the money I wish to transfer into your account can be very legal, easy and 100% risk-free. In my bank, where I work (i.e., Nal Merchant Bank Limited), we had a customer, a foreigner, who was based here in Nigeria since 1985 with his wife and two children. His name was Mr. Hamilton Creek and he had been banking with Nal Merchant Bank Limited for the past 14 years. He was from Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States of America. But a few years ago, in August 20th, precisely, Mr. Hamilton Creek had a ghastly car accident that cost him his life. He and his entire family members were actually on their way home from a summer holiday when he ran their car into a fully loaded groundnut-oil tanker. The collision was so fatal that the both vehicles caught fire, causing Mr. Hamilton Creek and his entire family members to burn on the spot. No single soul survived; so Mr. Hamilton Creek died without a next of kin.
 
Consequently, the Board of Directors and Management of the Nal Merchant Bank Limited had a summit on the matter and decided, according to the bank's business ethics, to transfer Mr. Hamilton Creek's unclaimed deposit to any of his relatives, since his son, who was supposed to inherit the money, also died in the car accident. Presently, my bank has mandated me, as the Manager of International Relations to search for Mr. Hamilton Creek's relative to come forth with the relevant documents and claim Mr. Hamilton Creek's money, which he had been depositing with my bank before he died. On my part, I contacted the United States embassy in Nigeria but the Ambassador, Mr. John Campbell, after scrutinizing for Mr. Hamilton Creek's relatives, informed me that Mr. Hamilton Creek had no known relative in the United States of America. He died without any other next of kin.
 
So the essence of contacting you is that I would like to front you to my bank as the maternal relative of Mr. Hamilton Creek, so that his deposit can be transferred to you for us to split. I have all the relevant information and I can procure all the relevant documents that you would send to my bank as proof, and in a matter of weeks Mr. Hamilton Creek's money would all be transferred into your account in your own country, so that we can split it equally. Having explained that, I am sanguine that it will interest you to know that Mr. Hamilton Creek has a domiciliary bank account with my bank amounting to a total of US$9.2 (nine million two hundred thousand United States Dollars).
 
Finally, if you are interested in this transfer, I would front you to my bank as the only next of kin to Late Mr. Hamilton Creek. I would also let my bank to understand that you are the only legitimate heir to the money and properties of Late Mr. Hamilton Creek. To proceed with this transfer, I would like you to just email me your consent or to call me directly on my mobile line: +234 803 258 9292. And as soon as you do, I would provide the documents for you and Late Mr. Hamilton Creek's money would be credited into your account. All his properties under the bank's possession would also be released and shipped to you in your own country. Endeavour to reply me immediately through this mailbox or my alternative mailbox if you have any problem contacting me with this, so that we can expedite this transfer. As soon as we do, we would split the money 50/50; that is, US$4.6 (four million six hundred thousand United States Dollars). Thank you very much and may God bless you.
 
Look forward to hearing from you soon.
 
Warm regards and keep in touch,
 
Johnson Eze.
+234 803 258 9292.
LAGOS-NIGERIA
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