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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: Mark Desmond <mark-m-171@hotmail.com>
Date: Fri, 12 Oct 2007 06:01:44 -0400
Subject: Dear Friend



SPRING BANK PLCPLOT 2 STALLION HOUSE MARINA LAGOS NIGERIA
Private / Highly Confidential.
Subject Matter: Invitation to Act as Next-of-Kin.
Dear Friend,
I am Dr. Mark Desmond, senior manager accounts/audit department, in SPRING BANK PLC. DR. GEORGE BRUMLEY, who was a contractor with Shell-development Company in Nigeria and a personal friend Died and left behind his deposit in this bank (SPRING BANK PLC) valued USD 11.5m I am writing to seek your cooperation over this business deal. In my department, I discovered an abandoned sum of USD 11.5m (Eleven Million, Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollar) only, in an account that belongs to one of our foreign customers who died along with his entire family in a plane crash that took place in Kenya, East Africa, the Late DR. GEORGE BRUMLEY, a citizen of Atlanta, United States of America but resident here in Nigeria, West Africa and a physician.
Since we got information about his death, we have been expecting his next of kin to come over and claim his money because it cannot be released unless somebody applies for it as next of kin or relation to the deceased as indicated in our banking guidelines but unfortunately, all his supposed next of kin or relation died alongside with him at the plane crash leaving nobody behind to claim the money. therefore upon this discovery that I now decided to make this business proposal to you and release the money to you via your foreign bank account as the next of kin or relation to the deceased for safety and subsequent disbursement since nobody is coming for it and this money Could go into the Bank treasury as unclaimed Bill.
The Banking law and guideline here stipulates that if such money remained unclaimed after four years, the money will be transferred into the Bank treasury as unclaimed fund. The request for your assistance and maximum co-operation as a foreign citizen to stand as the next of kin in this business is occasioned by the fact that the deceased customer was a foreigner.40 % of this money will be for you as my foreign partner, in respect to the provision of a foreign account. And 60 % would be for me. There after I will come over to your country for disbursement according to the percentages indicated. Therefore to enable the immediate transfer of this fund to you as arranged, you must apply first to the bank as the relation or next of kin to the deceased, indicating your claims and where the money will be remitted into.
Upon receipt of your response indicating your willingness to work with me, I will send to you by fax or email the contact information of my bank manager which you will use to submit the application and I will direct you on how to do that. I will not fail to bring to your notice that this transaction is strictly confidential and I will use my position in this Bank to effect a hitch free transfer of the fund and that is to say I guarantee that this transaction will be executed under a legitimate arrangement that will protect you and I from any breach of the law.
Please get in touch with me through my email: markdom_2000@hotmail.com and send to me your full name telephone and fax numbers to enable us discuss further about this transaction.
You can visit the website below for more information about the Plane Crash and the tragic death of the deceased and his entire family, Late DR GEORGE BRUMLEY.
http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/africa/07/20/kenya.crash/index.html
Awaiting your urgent reply
Thanks and my regards.
Dr. Mark Desmond
_________________________________________________________________
Peek-a-boo FREE Tricks & Treats for You!
http://www.reallivemoms.com?ocid=TXT_TAGHM&loc=us

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