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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.
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: "West Bank" <smith_anthony008@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Tue, 23 May 2006 22:15:06 +0800
Subject: GOOD DAY!
Good day Sir/Madam,
I am Smith B.Anthony, staff of International Private Banking at Bristol &
West Bank. 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 eight
million three hundred and fifty thousand 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 advice 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
guarantied 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
in here London. I informed him that HSBC 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 in here in London 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 at the London based security consultancy firm, Mayfair
Securities Co. Mayfair Securities Co 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 Mayfair Securities Co. 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 Mayfair Securities Co informing us
that the activity 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
Mayfair Securities Co, 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 Bristol & West. 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
Cannes, 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; thedeceased 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, Mayfair Securities Co
will by the end of this financial year broadcast a request for statements of
claim to Bristol & West, failing to receive viable claims they will most
probably revert the deposit back to Bristol & West. This will result in the
money entering the Bristol & West 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. 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 Bristol & West is concerned,
the transaction with our late customer concluded when I sent the fundsto
Mayfair securities, all outstanding interactions in relation to the file are
just customer services and due process. Mayfair Securities Co 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 similar details to
the late fellow; I am prepared to place you in a position to instruct
Mayfair Securities Co 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. 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 Mayfair Securities Co and
instruct them to release the deposit to you. With these two things: all is
done.
The alternative would be for us to have Mayfair Securities Co 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 Mayfair Securities Co. 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 won’t 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. Let’s share the blessing. If
you find yourself able to work with me, contact me through this same email
account. 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 linewith 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 learnt from my private banking
clients. Do not betray my confidence. If we can be of one accord, we should
plan a meeting soon.
I await your response.
Smith Anthony.
E-mail:smithanthoney@netscape.net
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