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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: "mervinking11@terra.es" <mervinking11@terra.es>
Date: Mon, 2 Jul 2007 18:29:37 +0200 (MEST)
Subject: Inquiry From Mervin King



Good day,

I am Mervin KING ,a staff of BANK OF SCOTLAND.I am contacting you independe=
ntly of my investigation and no one is informed of this communication. I wo=
uld like to intimate you with certain facts that I believed would be of int=
erest to you. I would respectfully request that you keep the contents of th=
is mail confidential and respect the integrity of the information you come =
by as a result of this mail.

I am contacting you in respect of US$9 Million deposited with our private b=
ank whose original depositor died in mid 2003,In line with our internal pro=
cesses for account holders who have passed away, we instituted our own inve=
stigations in good fate to determine who should have right to claim the est=
ate. This investigation has for the past years been unfruitful. We have sca=
nned 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 deta=
ils as a possible relative of the deceased. According to practice, the bank=
will by the end of its financial year in 2007 broadcast a request for stat=
ements of claims, failing to receive viable claims they will probably rever=
t the deposit back to BANK OF SCOTLAND. This will result in the money enter=
ing the BANK OF SCOTLAND accounting system, this will not happen if I have =
my way, the world of private banking especially is fraught with huge reward=
s for those who occupy certain offices and oversee certain portfolios. As a=
matter of fact, my present official capacity as the Head of private bankin=
g sector dictates that I am the only party to supervise the investigation w=
hich leaves me as the only person with the full picture of what the prevail=
ing situation is in relation to the deposit and the beneficiary of the depo=
sit.

My proposal: I am prepared to place you in a position to initiate the relea=
se of the deposit to you as the closest surviving relation, upon successful=
delivery of the deposit to you; I am prepared to share the money with you.=
That is: I will simply nominate you as the next of kin and have them relea=
se the deposit to you. We share the proceeds 50/50 %.The alternative would =
be for us to have the BANK OF SCOTLAND direct the funds to another bank wit=
h you as account holder. This way there will be no need for you to think of=
receiving the money from the bank. We can fine-tune this based on our inte=
ractions am aware of the consequences of this proposal. I ask that if you f=
ind no interest in this project that you should discard this mail. I ask th=
at 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. My present offic=
ial capacity as the Head of private banking sector I assure you that I coul=
d have the deposit released to you within few days.

I shall validate the claim; make a customary writing report that you are th=
e Beneficiary. This report will validate the bonafide of your claim and con=
firm you as the beneficiary and therefore entitled to an allocation of Cont=
rol Approval code for the release of the deposit by the bank .once I valida=
te the claim, the bank is bound to approve same, this is why I have an unfl=
inching confidence in the safety of our arrangement. The transaction will b=
e 100% legal. From the foregoing, you are therefore able to appreciate why =
I have hammered on the absolute necessity of our maintenance of confidentia=
lity of the project and the transfer even after we have disbursed the money=
after arrival in your position. I am not a criminal and what I do, I do no=
t 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 opportuni=
ties only come ones' way once in a lifetime.

I cannot let this chance pass me by, I am a family man and this is an oppor=
tunity to provide them with new opportunities. There is a reward for this p=
roject and it is a task well worth undertaking. I have evaluated the risk a=
nd the only risk I have here is from you refusing to work with me and alert=
ing my bank. I am the only one who knows of this situation, if you find you=
rself able to work with me, contact me through this email account. If you g=
ive 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 w=
ill deny knowing you and about this project. I repeat, I do not want you co=
ntacting 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 w=
ill provide for you and also through this email address. I do not want any =
direct link between you and myself.

My official lines are not secured lines as they are periodically monitored =
to assess our level of customer care in line with our Total Quality Managem=
ent Policy.
Please observe this instruction religiously.

Thanks for your co-operation.kindly send response to mervinking02@sify.com

Sincerely,

Mervin King.

=20





Ahora tambi&eacute;n puedes acceder a tu correo Terra desde el m&oacute;vil=
.

Inf&oacute;rmate pinchando aqu&iacute;.






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