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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: "idris usman" <idrisusman1a@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: idrisusman1b@yahoo.com
Date: Wed, 13 Dec 2006 19:45:16 +0100
Subject: HELLO

DEAR SIR,

IT IS WITH TRUST AND CONFIDENCE THAT I MAKE THIS URGENT PROPOSAL HOPING THAT
YOU ARE TRUSTWORTHY AND RELIABLE. I WAS THE PERSONAL ATTORNEY TO ONE
ENGINEER REIJO SAUNAMAKI WHO OWNED AND RAN AN OIL SERVICING COMPANY IN
NIGERIA. MY CLIENT HAD AN ACCOUNT WITH THE BANK OF NIGERIA PLC WHERE HE
DEPOSITED AS THE LAST BALANCE,THE SUM OF $11.9M. UNFORTUNATELY,MR.SAUNAMAKI
IN APRIL 2000 DIED WITH HIS NUCLEAR FAMILY IN A GHASTLY AUTO CRASH ALONG THE
IBADAN LAGOS EXPRESS ROAD.

I HAVE RECEIVED NOTIFICATION TO THE EXISTENCE OF THIS ACCOUNT FROM THE BANK
A COUPLE OF MONTHS AGO WITH THE INFORMATION THAT THE BANK WILL RETIRE THIS
MONEY AS UNCLAIMED IF IN THE NEXT ONE MONTH,I AM NOT ABLE TO FIND ONE THAT
HAS RELATIONSHIP WITH SAUNAMAKI TO CLAIM THIS MONEY AS HIS NEXT OF KIN. I
HAVE MADE CONCERTED EFFORTS, UNKNOWN TO THE BANK SINCE THE DEATH OF MY
CLIENT TO TRACE ANY ONE EVEN WITH THE REMOTEST RELATIONSHIP WITH SAUNAMAKI
WITHOUT SUCCESS.

I AM THEREFORE CONTACTING YOU TO CO-OPERATE WITH ME SO THAT I CAN POSITION
YOU AS THE NEXT OF KIN TO THE DECEASED AND CLAIM THIS MONEY FOR A SHARING
FORMULAR WE WILL AGREE ON. I WILL LEAD YOU TO FOLLOW STRICTLY THE LAID DOWN
PROCEDURES OF THE BANK FOR CLAIMS SUCH AS THIS IN SO MUCH THAT THIS WILL BE
ENTIRELY RISK FREE AND LEGAL.


WARM REGARDS,

IDRIS USMAN

_________________________________________________________________
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