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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: godfred william <barristergodfred_william@yahoo.com>
Date: Wed, 15 Feb 2006 04:28:06 -0800 (PST)
Subject: I NEED URGENT REPLY


FROM:GODFRED &ASSOCIATES
{BARRISTER GODFRED WILLIAM}
SOLICITORS

ATTN;

BEFORE I START, I MUST FIRST APOLOGIZE FOR THIS UNSOLICITED MAIL TO YOU.I AM AWARE THAT THIS IS CERTAINLY AN UNCONVENTIONAL APPROACH TO STARTING A RELATIONSHIP, BUT AS TIME GOES ON YOU WILL REALIZE THE NEED FOR MY ACTION.

MY NAME IS BARRISTER GODFRED WILLIAM , A SOLICITOR AND THE PERSONAL ATTORNEY TO MR.JEFFERSON ROLAND, CITIZEN OF YOUR COUNTRY,WHO WORKED WITH AN OIL COMPANY IN NIGERIA.HERE IN AFTER REFERRED TO AS MY CLIENT. ON THE 21ST OF APRIL 2003, MY CLIENT,HIS WIFE AND THEIR THREE CHILDREN WERE INVOLVED IN PLAN CRASH I WANT YOU TO UNDERSTAND THAT THIS IS REAL AND LEGITTIMATE . I WILL LIKE YOU VISIT THE WEBSITE http://www.disasterrelief.org/Disasters/020506nigeriacrash/ AND SEE WHAT I AM TELLING
YOU . YOU DO NOT HAVE TO ENTERTAIN ANY FEAR AS ALL I HAVE THE PROOF WITH ME
. MY CLIENT AND HIS ENTIRE FAMILY UNFORTUNATELY LOST THEIR LIVES IN THE ACCIDENT. SINCE THEN I HAVE MADE SEVERAL ENQUIRIES TO YOUR EMBASSY TO LOCATE ANY OF MY CLIENT'S EXTENDED RELATIVES, WHICH HAS PROVED ABORTIVE AFTER THESE SEVERAL UNSUCESSFUL ATTEMPTS, THE NEED TO CONTACT YOU.MY MAIN REASON FOR CONTACTING YOU IS TO ASSIST ME INREPATRIATING THE MONEY AND PROPERTY LEFT BEHIND BY MY CLIENT BEFORE THEY ARE CONFISCATED OR DECLARED UNSERVICEABLE BY THE BANK WHERE THEY ARE DEPOSITED/LODGED.PARTICULARLY,THE UNION BANK OF (NIG) PLC. WHERE THE DECEASED HAS A FIXED SUM OF EIGHTEEN MILLION UNITED STATES DOLLARS.THE SAID BANK HAS ISSUED ME A FINAL NOTICE TO PROVIDE THE NEXT OF KIN OF MY LATE CLIENT OR THEY WILL BE LEFT WITH NO OTHER CHOICE THAN TO CONFISCATE HIS FUNDS,A COPY OF THE SAID NOTICE WHICH I WILL FAX TO YOU ON GETTING YOUR REPLY.SINCE I HAVE BEEN UNSUCCESSFUL IN LOCATING MY CLIENT'S RELATIVES FOR THE PAST 2 YEARS, NOW I SEEK YOUR CONSENT TO PRESENT YOU AS THE NEXT OF KIN !
TO MY
LATE CLIENT GOING BY THE FACT THAT BOTH OF YOU ARE OF THE SAME NATIONALITY , SO THAT THE SAID FUNDS AS STATED ABOVE I.E, THE SUM OF
EIGHTEEN MILLION UNITED STATES DOLLARS CAN BE PAID INTO YOUR ACCOUNT INSTEAD OF LEAVING IT FOR UNION BANK OF (NIG) PLC.
WE CAN TAKE PART OF IT AND LEAVE THE REST TO CHARITY. I HAVE ALL NECESSARY LEGAL DOCUMENTS THAT CAN BE USED TO BACK UP ANY CLAIM WE MAY MAKE ALL I REQUIRE IS YOUR HONEST CO-OPERATION TO ENABLE US SEE THIS ARRANGMENT THROUGH I GUARANTEE THAT THIS WILL BE EXECUTED UNDER A LEGITIMATE ARRANGEMENT THAT WILL PROTECT YOU FROM ANY BREACH OF THE LAW.
PLEASE GIVE ME YOUR CONFIDENTAIL PHONE/FAX NUMBERS SO THAT I CAN FAX TO YOU ALL THE CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN THE BANK AND ME.

BEST REGARDS,

BARRISTER GODFRED WILLIAM [ESQ]

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