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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.

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Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: MANUEL WOODGATE <woodgateoffice@inbox.com>
Reply-To: woodgateconsulting@myway.com
Date: Sun, 27 Aug 2006 04:17:01 +0200
Subject: URGENT ASSISTANCE


From: Mr. Manuel Woodgate
Private Email.Manuelwoodgate@yahoo.com
Subject: Next Of Kin To Late Mr. Thompson,
Dear Sir/Madam,
I apologize if the contents here under are contrary to your moral
ethics, but
please treat it with absolute secrecy and personal courtesy. I am Mr.
Manuel Woodgate a senior account officer / auditor with one of the
foreign banks here in Italy . I have a business, which I would like to
introduce to you, and I think it would be of benefit to us. This is just an
opportunity that came my way, and hence I thought it wise to utilize
it.
In the process of auditing foreign accounts this quarter, I and one of
my
colleagues recently discovered that there is a dormant account valued
at the
sum $25,000,000.00 (Twenty Million United States Dollars) and after
due
verification of this account we discovered that the account
owner/holder (Mr
Thompson ) passed on with his family couple of years back in a plane
crash, and that is why the account has been dormant and as such a
close balance of $25,000,000.00 has been lying in the Bank unclaimed.
The idea of presenting somebody to stand as his next of kin to claim
the funds in his dormant account came into our mind, that is how and
why we have decided to contact you so as to present you as his Next of
Kin, so that the $25,000,000.00 in his dormant account would be
transferred to you as his Next of Kin, and we will compensate you for doing
that. Upon your response we would discuss with you on the percentage we
have decided to offer you.
In view of this, I am seeking for your co-operation and understanding
to stand
as the next of kin to our deceased customer to enable us claim the
fund from my Bank, if not the $25,000,000.00 will be declared unclaimed
by the Bank after this quarter and hence his account will be frozen
and the money confiscated.
Hence, if this proposal is OK by you , Please kindly get in touch with
me immediately, strictly via my private email address only: Manuelwoodgate@yahoo.com enable me enlighten you on how we are to
proceed.
On getting your response, we shall agree on the percentage we will
give you as I stated before . Meanwhile, we intend to invest part of our
own share in real estate or any lucrative business in your country, and
we would appreciate if you can put us in the right part where we can
invest when the time comes
Considering your stand in this matter, I will not contact any person
or
companies until I hear from you, so as to enable me decide on what to
do next.
Be rest assured that this business is 100% risk free and would be
conducted on
a legitimate ground, which will protect you and me from every breach
of law.
We wait for your prompt response.
Regards,
Mr. Manuel Woodgate
NB: PLEASE NOTE THAT IT DOES NOT MATTER IF YOU ARE NOT RELATED TO MY
LATE
CLIENT OR NOT: THE FUND WILL STILL BE PAID TO YOU,SINCE I AM PRESENTING
YOU AS
HIS NEXT OF KIN.

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