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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: "Martyn Legbe" <ml232@mail.az> (may be fake)
Reply-To: ml2323@mail.az
Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2006 16:32:48 +0100
Subject: reply

Greetings to you,

How are you today and business in your country? I am Mr. Martyn Legbe, Bank Manager of a bank in Senegal. I would respectfully request that you
keep the contents of this mail confidential and respect the integrity of the information you come by as a result of this mail. I contacted you independently
of our investigation and no one is informed of this communication. I would like to intimate you with certain facts that I
believe would be of interest to you. I know you would be wondering why I am writing you with a request such as this but I only urge you to read on.
In November 1999, an American Oil consultant/contractor with the Senegalese Solid Minerals Corporation, made a numbered time (Fixed) Deposit for twelve
calendar months, valued at some millions of United States dollars in my branch. Upon maturity, I sent a routine notification to his forwarding address in
America and Britain but got no reply. After a month, we sent a reminder and finally we discovered from his contract employers, the Senegalese Solid Minerals
Corporation that the contractor died alongside his wife and their only daughter, from an airplane crash. The bank immediately launched an investigation into possible
surviving next of kin to alert about the situation and also to come forward to claim his estate. If you are familiar with private banking affairs, those who patronize our
services usually prefer anonymity, but also some levels of detachment from conventional processes. In his bio-data form, he listed no next of kin. In the field
of private banking, opening an account with us means no one will know of its existence, accounts are rarely held under a name; depositors use
numbers and codes to make the accounts anonymous. This bank also gives the choice to depositors of having their mail sent to them or held at the
bank itself, ensuring that there are no traces of the account and as I said, rarely do they nominate next of kin. Private banking clients apart from not nominating
next of kin also usually in most cases leave wills in our care, in this case; the American Oil consultant/contractor died interstate.
In line with our internal processes for account holders who have passed away, we instituted our own investigations in good faith to determine who should have
right to claim the estate. This investigation has for the past months been unfruitful. We have scanned every continent and used our private investigation
affiliate companies to get to the root of the problem. This money has since been 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 the Laws of Republic of Senegal, at the expiration of 6 (six) years, the money will revert
to the ownership of the Senegalese Government if nobody applies to claim the funds. What I wish to relate to you will smack of unethical practice, but I want you to
understand something. It is only an outsider to the banking world who finds the internal politics of the banking world aberrational. The world of banking especially is
fraught with huge rewards for those who occupy certain offices and oversee certain portfolios.
You should have begun by now to put together the general direction of what I propose. There is a large sum of money deposited in my bank, I alone have the
deposit details and they will release the deposit to no one unless evidence of relationship with the deceased, which I shall provide you with, is presented. I
alone know of the existence of this deposit for as far as my Bank is concerned, the bank's management has no single idea of what the history or nature of the
deposit. They are simply awaiting instructions to release the deposit to any party that comes forward.
This is the situation. This bank has spent great amounts of money trying to track this man's family; they have investigated for months and have found no
family. The investigation has come to an end. Consequently, my proposal is that I will like you as a foreigner to stand in as the next of kin.
Acting in this capacity really is simple, all you have to do is provide your full names and address so that an attorney here can prepare the necessary
documents and affidavits that will put you in place as the next of kin. We shall employ the services of an attorney for drafting and notarization of
the WILL and to obtain the necessary authentication, approval and a letter of probate/administration in your favour for the transfer to be done. A bank
account in any part of the world that you provide me with, we 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 40/40/20. Which is 40 for you 40 for me and the remaining 20 to any charity organisation.
I am aware of the consequences of this proposal. I ask that if you find no interest in this project that you should discard this mail. I ask that do not
be vindictive and destructive. If my offer is of no appeal to you, delete this message and forget I ever contacted you. Do not destroy my career because you
do not approve of my proposal. You may not know this but people like me who have made tidy sums out of comparable situations run the whole private banking
sector. I am not a criminal and what I do, I do not find against good conscience, this may be hard for you to understand, but the dynamics of my
industry dictates that I make this move. Such opportunities only come ones way once in a lifetime. I cannot afford to let this chance pass me by, for once I find myself
in total control of my destiny. This is my chance and I won.t let it pass me by.If you will not work with me let me know and let me move on with my life but please do not
destroy me. I am a family man and this is an opportunity to provide my family with new opportunities. There is a reward for this project and it is a task well worth undertaking.
I have evaluated the risks and the only risk I have here is from you refusing to work with me and alerting my bank.
There is no risk whatsoever 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. I wish to inform you that should you contact me via official channels; I will deny knowing you and about this project.
I repeat, I do not want you contacting me through my official phone lines nor do I want you contacting me through my official email account.
Contact me only through the numbers I will provide for you and also through the email address I have provided. My official lines are not secure lines as they
are periodically monitored to assess our level of customer care in line with our Total Quality Management Policy.
Please observe this instruction religiously and do not betray my confidence. If we can be of one accord, we should plan a meeting soon.
In closing, please observe utmost confidentiality, and be rest assured that this transaction would be most profitable for both of us. Upon receiving your
reply, I will then furnish you with a more comprehensive detail of this transaction, the amount involved and what is required of you in order for us to
achieve the success of this business.

My private Telephone line: + 221 440 9966.Please do call me alerting me about
your interest.

Awaiting your urgent reply,
Yours Sincerely,
Martyn Legbe.


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