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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: Andrew Henderson <andrewhenderson@sify.com> (may be fake)
Date: Thu, 7 Dec 2006 21:17:26 -0600
Subject: I require your honesty and co-operation


Dear Sir/Madam,

I apologize if this mail message does not suit your personal or business ethics. I write with sincerity to seek your cooperation and assistance to enable me take an opportunity to make a life time proper investments in the economy of your country.

My name is Andrew Henderson and I am a U.K based attorney. I had a client who was a German immigrant & property magnate but now deceased. He died with his wife and their two children in year 2000 in a New York bound Air France concord plane crash. For more information regarding the crash please visit :
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/Europe/859479.stm

I have been in charge of managing his properties here in the U.K for a long time. There are some of his properties put out for sale before his death which I monitored and for which payment has since been made. The proceeds of the sale was deposited into his local account here. As his recognized attorney, his bank has issued me a notice to provide his next-of-kin within a short notice.

The problem now is I have not been able to locate his relatives which means I have not been able to provide his next-of-kin. The deadline is almost elapsing. I want you to collaborate with me & assist in repatriating all the money left behind by my client before it gets confiscated or the account declared unserviceable by his bank. Therefore, I am by this mail seeking your consent to present you as the next-of-kin of the deceased so that the outstanding balance of US$ 15.5 Million dollars, can be paid to you. Thereafter, we shall meet and the funds shall be shared between us. We can both agree on a mutually acceptable percentage to be shared between us. But I hereby propose 60/40 percent ratio ( 60%-to me and 40% to you ).

I can provide all necessary information that can be used to back up the process of this financial claim . All I require is your honesty and co-operation to enable us see this deal through. To enable me present you as the next-of-kin I will equally need the following details from you:
(1)name(s) that you intend to use for this transaction,
(2)telephone/fax number
(3)contact details,
(4)age,
(5)occupation and
(6)Nationallity.

With these, I guarantee that it will be executed under a legitimate arrangement that will protect us from any breach of the law in wherever you want the funds transferred to. As the attorney to the deceased, I assure that this is a risk-free business.

A swift acknowledgement of the receipt of this email would be appreciated.

Regards,
Andrew Henderson

andrewhenderson@sify.com



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