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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: Dr Gregory Scoth <greg_scoth002@yahoo.com.sg>
Reply-To: greg_scoth2001@yahoo.co.uk
Date: Sun, 05 Feb 2006 17:09:51 +0200
Subject: PLEASE KINDLY CONSIDER THIS OFFER


Before I introduce myself,I wish to inform you that this letter is not a hoax mail and I urge you to treat it serious.
I am Dr.Gregory E. Scoth,a seasoned banker with working experience of 18 years in a prime bank here in London United kingdom ,I am the Accounts officer of late Mr.Michael j.Brown the African Area Director of SIL International,who unfortunately died in the crash of Kenya Airways Flight 431 in Abidjan, Ivory Coast,January 30 2000.You will read more stories about the crash on visiting this website,news.airwise.com/airlines/archive/2000/kenya2000.html and also in this website, where Michael's company talked about his death in the Kenya crash. Mr.Michael Brown was from Hamilton,Ontario Canada.
Since the death of Michael,I as his accounts officer in the bank,have made several enquiries to locate his only surviving relation,without any success.I came across your name and contact,on the course of my personal searching for reliable and honest
person whom will transact this business with me so i decided to contact you for this project.I am contacting you to assist in repatriating and securing the wealth left behind in a fixed deposit account by Michael,before they get confiscated or declared unserviceable by my bank.
The board of my bank,has issued a notice that after 2 months from now onwards if no next of kin shows up for the claim,the funds will be confiscated and declared
unserviceable.Since I and my team have been unsuccessful in locating Michael's relatives for sometime now,I seek your consent to present you as the Next of Kin of the deceased since you are a foreigner,so that the proceed of this deposit valued at 12.6 Million bps can be released to you.
The bank will release the funds to any foreigner who has a related informations and documents to the bank account.I am in charge of this matter in my bank,because I am his accounts officer.Your application will be directed to my department for verification and approval. Everything is under my control.I shall also involve a good attorney who shall represent you in all the appropriate offices for the claim.I also have all necessary information we need for the claim and once the money is transferred to you,I shall destroy all the documents used for the claim and leave no traces.
All requires is your honest cooperation to enable us see this business successful.I guarantee that this will be executed under a legitimate arrangement that will protect you from any breach of the law.Michael was a very good man and it is not wise to allow his hard earned wealth to be stolen by the greedy directors of my bank.
Further details awaits your response,
PLEASE,TREAT THIS AS TOP SECRET.
Best Regards,
Dr.Gregory E.Scoth

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