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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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Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: "Mr David Richards" <mrdavidrichards52@msn.com>
Date: Mon, 30 Jan 2006 12:07:27 +0000
Subject: I NEED YOUR TRUST.

Citi Finance Bank uk
25 Maiden Lane
Covent Garden
London WC2E 7JS

Dear Friend

Do accept my sincere apologies if my mail does not
meet your personal ethics. I will introduce myself
as Mr David Richards, a staff in the accounts
management section of the above firm here in the
United Kingdom.

This is the detail of what i want you to assist me
in doing, One of our accounts with holding balance of
4,000,000(Four Million British Pounds) has been
dormant and has not been operated for the past four
(6) years. From my investigations and confirmations,
the owner of this account, a foreigner by name (Kurt
Kahle) died in July, 2000 see this

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

And since then nobody has done anything as regards
the claiming of this money because he has no family
members who are aware of the existence of neither
the account nor the funds.

I have secretly discussed this matter with a senior
official of this company and we have agreed to find
a reliable foreign partner to deal with. We thus
propose to do business with you, standing in as the next of
kin of these funds from the deceased and funds
released to you after due processes have been
followed.

This transaction is totally free of risk and
troubles as the fund is legitimate and does not originate
from drug, money laundry, terrorism or any other illegal
act. On receipt of your response I will furnish you
with detailed clarification as it relates to this
mutual benefit transaction. I look forward to
hearing from you as soon as possible if you are interested and
with your trust. Get back to me through my private email

mrdavidrichards50@yahoo.co.uk


Regards,
Mr David Richards


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