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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: "FRANK KALU" <esq_frank102@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: frankkalu02@yahoo.co.uk
Date: Thu, 08 Feb 2007 08:07:15 -0800
Subject: VERY URGENT MY DEAR GAGNON


CHIEF BARRISTER FRANK KALU (ESQ)
Senior Advocate, International Legal Practitioner
UB Associates Chamber's Lagos Nigeria
&
Financial Attorney
 
ATTN: MY DEAR GAGNON, 
 
MY NAME IS BARRISTER FRANK KALU, I AM PERSONAL ATTORNEY TO LATE MR. ANDREW GAGNON,WHO WAS WORKING WITH DYNASTY OIL AND GAS CORPORATION (D.OG.C) BEFORE HIS DEMISE. ON THE 21ST OF APRIL 2004, MY CLIENT (MR. ANDREW), HIS WIFE (SARAH) AND THEIR THREE CHILDREN WERE INVOLVED IN A FATAL CAR ACCIDENT ALONG LAGOS/ABEOKUTA EXPRESS ROAD;
 
UNFORTUNATELY THEY ALL LOST THEIR LIVES INCLUDING THEIR DRIVER MR. TIMIBRI OLORUGUN. SINCE THEN I HAVE MADE SEVERAL ATTEMPT TO LOCATE ANY OF MY CLIENT'S KNOWN RELATIVES OR EVEN EXTENDED RELATIVES, THIS HAS PROVED ABORTIVE.
 
AFTER THESE UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPTS THAT HAVE LASTED FOR YEARS, I DECIDED TO CONTACT YOU NOW. I AM CONTACTING YOU IN GOOD FAITH SO THAT YOU WILL COOPERATE WITH ME IN CLAIMING THE MONEY LEFT BEHIND BY MY LATE CLIENT, BECAUSE THE ACCOUNT IS ABOUT TO BE FROZEN BY THE BANK. IT IS PAINFUL TO NOTE THAT THE AMOUNT IN THAT ACCOUNT IS U.S$4.7 MILLION AND IT HAS REMAINED DORMANT FOR 3 YEARS. THIS IS ACTUALLY THE BANKING REGULATIONS AND POLICIES IN THIS PART OF THE GLOBE.
 
MORE WORRISOME IS THE FACT THAT THE BANK HAVE ISSUED A NOTICE ASKING ME TO PRESENT THE NEXT OF KIN TO MY LATE CLIENT WITHIN THE NEXT TEN WORKING DAYS, OR RISK THE CONFISCATION OF THE FUND. SINCE I HAVE NOT BEEN SUCCESSFUL IN LOCATING THE RELATIVES THESE PAST YEARS, I AM SEEKING YOUR CONSENT TO PRESENT YOU AS THE NEXT OF KIN TO MY LATE CLIENT SO THAT THE U.S$4.7MILLION WILL BE PAID TO YOU. AS SOON AS THE FUND IS CONFIRMED IN YOUR ACCOUNT, I WILL FLY TO MEET WITH YOU FOR DISBURSEMENT OF THE FUND.
 
AND TO ENSURE EQUITY AND FAIRNESS, I HAVE AGREED THAT 40% OF THE TOTAL FUND WILL GO TO YOU FOR YOUR ASSISTANCE IN MAKING THIS CLAIM SUCCESSFUL, 50% FOR ME, WHILE 10% WILL BE USED TO DEFRAY ALL EXPENSES INCURRED IN THE COURSE OF THIS TRANSACTION. I WANT TO ASSURE YOU THAT ALL NECESSARY LEGAL DOCUMENTS THAT WILL BE USED TO BACK UP THIS CLAIM IS INTACT.
 
ALL I SINCERELY REQUIRE IS YOUR CONSENT TO PRESENT YOU TO THE BANK AS THE NEXT OF KIN TO MY CLIENT, THEREBY ASKING FOR YOUR HONEST CO-OPERATION TO ENABLE US SEE THIS DEAL THROUGH. I GUARANTEED THAT THIS WILL BE EXECUTED UNDER A LEGITIMATE ARRANGEMENT THAT WILL PROTECT US FROM ANY BREACH OF THE LAW. PLEASE GET IN TOUCH WITH ME FOR US TO FACILITATE THE CLAIM OF THIS FUND.
 
REMEMBER TO INCLUDE YOUR TELEPHONE AND FAX NUMBERS WHEN RESPONDING FOR ME TO CALL YOU FOR DETAIL IN ORDER TO MAKE THIS TRANSACTION A HITCH-FREE. I WANT YOU TO CONTACT ME SO THAT I WILL INFORM YOU OF HOW WE CAN GET THIS DONE. I WAIT FOR YOUR REPLY AS SOON AS YOU READ THIS MAIL,
 
YOURS SINCERELY,
BARRSITER FRANK  KALU (SAN)
ESQ, LLB, LLM, BL,


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