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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: "David Palmer" <david_palmeruk505@sympatico.ca>
Reply-To: david_palmer041@yahoo.co.uk
Date: Fri, 17 Mar 2006 19:06:14 +0000
Subject: REPLY IMMEDIATELY(VERY URGENT)


Goodday,

I am David Palmer, staff of SMITH & WILLIAMSON Private Banking.

I am contacting you concerning a deceased customer and an investment he
placed under our banks management three years ago.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.In 2000, the subject matter; came to our
bank to engage in business discussions with our private banking division. He
informed us that he had a financial portfolio of Thirty million united
states dollars,which he wished to have us turn over (invest) on his behalf.I
was the officer assigned to his case, I made numerous suggestions in line
with my duties as the de-facto chief operations officer of the private
banking sector, especially given the volume of funds he wished to put into
our bank. We met on numerous occasions prior to any investments being
placed. I encouraged him to consider various growth funds with prime
ratings.

The favored route in my advise to customers is to start by assessing data on
6000 traditional stocks and bond managers and 2000 managers of alternative
investments. Based on my advice, We spun the money around various
opportunities and made attractive margins for our first months of operation,
the accrued profit and interest stood at this point at over ten million
United States Dollars, this margin was not the full potential of the fund
but he desired low risk guaranteed
returns on investments. In mid 2001, he asked that the money be liquidated
because he needed to make an urgent investment requiring cash payments in
here in the united kingdom. He directed that I liquidate the funds and
deposit it with a security firm. I informed him that SMITH & WILLIAMSON
would have to make special arrangements to have this done and in order not
to circumvent due process, the bank would have to make a 9.5 % deduction
from the funds to cater for banking and statutory charges. He complained
about the charges but later came around when I explained to him the
complexities of the task he was asking of us. Cash movement across boarders
has become especially strict since the incidents of 9/11. I contacted my
affiliate and made the funds available to the security firm.
I undertook all the processes and made sure I followed his precise
instructions to the letter and had the funds deposited with the security
firm. The Security Firm is a specialist private firm that accepts deposits
from high net worth individuals and blue chip corporations that handle
valuable products or undertake transactions that need immediate access to
cash. This small and highly private organization is familiar especially to
the highly placed and well-connected organizations. In line with
instructions, the money was deposited with the security firm.

The deceased told me he wanted the money there in anticipation of his
arrival from Norway later that week. This was the last communication we had,
this transpired around 25th February 2003.In June last year, we got a call
from the security firm informing us that the inactivity of that particular
portfolio. This was an astounding position as far as I was concerned, given
the fact that I managed the private banking sector I was the only one who
knew about the deposit at the security firm, and I could not understand why
the deceased had not come forward to claim his deposit. I made futile
efforts to locate the deceased. I immediately passed the task of locating
him to the internal investigations department of SMITH & WILLIAMSON.

Four days later, information started to trickle in,apparently our client was
dead. A person who suited his description was declared dead of a heart
attack in Canne, South of France. We were soon enough able to identify the
body and cause of death was confirmed. 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 deceased died without a testate. 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. It is this investigation that
resulted in my being furnished with your details as a possible relative of
the deceased. My official capacity dictates that I am the only party to
supervise the investigation and the only party to receive the results of the
investigation. What this means, you being the last batch of names we have
considered, is that our dear late fellow died with no known or identifiable
family member. This leaves me as the only person with the full picture of
what the prevailing situation is in relation to the deposit and the late
beneficiary of the deposit.According to practice, The Security Firm will by
the end of this financial year broadcast a request for statements of claim
to SMITH & WILLIAMSON,failing to receive viable claims they will most
probably revert the deposit back to SMITH & WILLIAMSON. This will result in
the money entering the SMITH & WILLIAMSON accounting system and the
portfolio will be out of my hands and out of the private banking division.
This will not happen if I have my way.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 private 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 Thirty million dollars deposited in a security firm, I alone have
the deposit details and they will release the deposit to no one unless I
instruct them to do so. I alone know of the existence of this deposit for as
far as SMITH & WILLIAMSON is concerned, the transaction with our late
customer concluded when I sent the funds to the security firm, all
outstanding interactions in relation to the file are just customer services
and due process. The security Firm has no single idea of what’s 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.

My proposal; you share the same surname With our late client; I am prepared
to place you in a position to instruct The security Firm to release the
deposit to you as the closest surviving relation. Upon receipt of the
deposit,I am prepared to share the money with you in half. That is: I will
simply nominate you as the next of kin and have them release the deposit to
you. We share the proceeds 50/50.I would have gone ahead to ask the funds
be released to me, but that would have drawn a straight line to me and my
involvement in claiming the deposit. But on the other hand, you with the
same very name as the original depositor would easily pass as the
beneficiary with right to claim. I assure you that I could have the deposit
released to you within a few days. I will simply inform the bank of the
final closing of the file relating to the deceased I will then officially
communicate with The Security Firm and instruct them to release the deposit
to you. With these two things: all is done.The alternative would be for us
to have The Security Firm direct the funds to another bank with you as
account holder. This way there will be no need for you to think of receiving
the money from The Security Company. We can fine-tune this based on our
interactions.

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 you
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 myself 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 let this
chance pass me by, for once I find myself in total control of my destiny.
These chances wont pass me by. I ask that you do not destroy my chance, if
you will not work with me let me know and let me move on with my life but do
not destroy me. I am a family man and this is an opportunity to provide them
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. I am the only one who knows
of this situation, good fortune has blessed you with a name that has planted
you into the center of relevance in my life.Lets share the blessing.If you
find yourself able to work with me, contact me through this email account
david_palmer041@yahoo.co.uk If you give me positive signals, I will
initiate this process towards a conclusion. 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
this email address. I do not want any direct link between you and me. 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. Please,again, note I am
a family man, I have a wife and children. I send you this mail not without a
measure of fear as to what the consequences, but I know within me that
nothing ventured is nothing gained and that success and riches never come
easy or on a platter of gold.

This is the one truth I have learned from my private banking clients. Do not
betray my onfidence.Kindly send your response to my private email address
david_palmer041@yahoo.co.uk

I await your response.

David Palmer.


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