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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: "Alex Ulu" <alexme_1@msn.com>
Reply-To: alex00ulu@yahoo.com
Date: Wed, 04 Jan 2006 09:30:00 +0000
Subject: Message From Mr. Alex

MR.Alex Ulu
PLOT 324 WALTER CORRINTON DRIVE VI
Pretoria South Africa

Greetings,

I am Mr. Alex ulu, a Chief Accountant Auditor with Standard BANK Of South
Africa. On 14 October 1999, an American mining consultant/contractor with
the South African Agip Energy and Natural Resources plc, Mr. Andreas
Schranner made a numbered time (Fixed) Deposit for twelve (12) calendar
months, valued at US$ 7 Million United States 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 Reminder and finally we discovered that Mr.
Andreas Schranner was dead. He died in the plane crash of 31 July2000,
below:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/859479.stm


I therefore made further investigation and discovered
That Mr. Andreas Schranner did not declare any next of kin or relations in
all his official documents, including his Bank Deposit paperwork in my Bank.
This sum of US$7, Million United States Dollars 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 South
African Law, at the expiration of 10 (Ten) years, the money will revert to
the ownership of the South Africa Government if nobody applies to claim the
fund as unclaimed fund.


Consequently, my proposal is that I will like you as a
Foreigner to stand in as the next of kin to Mr. Andreas Schranner so that
the fruits of this old man's labor will not get into the hands of some
corrupt government officials. I will prepare
the necessary documents and affidavits that will put you
in place as the next of kin. 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 60% for me and 40% for you.


There is no risk at all as all the paperwork for this transaction will be
done by the attorney and my position as the Branch Manager guarantees the
successful execution of this transaction. All I require is your honest
cooperation to enable us see this business if you are interested 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.

Upon your response, I shall then provide you with more details
and relevant documents that will help you understand the
transaction.

Best regards,

Alex Ulu.


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