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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: MORGAN SMITH <m-smith03@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: <morgansmith101@yahoo.com>
Date: Sat, 24 Nov 2007 07:19:46 -0800
Subject: YOUR ASSISTANCE IS NEEDED.



FROM THE DESK OF MORGAN SMITHSTANDARD TRUST BANK PLC - LAGOS NIGERIA I WANT YOU TO BE VERY HONEST TO HANDLE THIS BUSINESS FOR ME CONFIDENTIALLY AND WE BOTH ARE GOING TO BENEFIT A LOT FROM IT... I need your assistance to stand as a beneficiary to the sum of $4.5,millions united state dollars lying down unclaimed in our bank, what really happened is that during the course of our auditing last week, I discovered a floating fund in an account opened in the bank in the year 1998 and since 1999 nobody has operated on this account again,after going through some old files in the records I discovered that the owner of the account died without a [Heir/WILL] hence the money is floating and if I do not remit this money out urgently it will be forfeited for nothing. The owner of this account Mr. Rick Dixon,an American oil and gas consultant with the Nigeria national petroleum company(NNPC). He was married with 3kids and they all died in a fatal auto accident in Nigeria. Ever since his death the money has been lying unclaimed. Now i need your co operation to claim this money because only someone from foreign country can stand as the beneficiary.And the Banking law stipulates that any money lying unclaimed for six years will be transfered to federal government suspent account with central bank of Nigeria. Please i need your assistance to achieve this great chance because i do not wish this money transfered to Central bank of Nigeria because it will be shared among the top directors . No other person knows about this account or any thing concerning it,the account has no other beneficiary and my investigation proved to me as well that the account is a secret account between the late owner of the man and the wife and 3children. The total amount involve is $4.5,million United States Dollars only and I wish to transfer this money into a safe foreigners account abroad. But I don't know any foreigner, I am only contacting you as a foreigner because this money can not be approved to a local person here,but to a foreigner who has adequate information about the account and the late owner which i shall give to you upon your positive respond .I am revealing this to you with believe in God that you will never let me down in this business, you are the first and the only person that I am contacting for this business I need your strong assurance that you will never let me down, and I guarantee that this transaction will be executed under a legitimate arrangement that will protectyou from any breach of the law, and after the transfer i will destroy all documents of transaction immediately we receive this money leaving no trace to any place. I assure you that i will use my position and influence to obtain all legal approvals for onward transfer of this money to your account with appropriate clearance from the relevant ministries and foreign exchange departments. At the conclusion of this business, you will be given 40% of the total amount and 60% will be for me while 5% will be set for any cost that may come up during the transfer processing. Please i want you to be honest with me because this money is a golden opportunity to me and i do not want to loose it. For the business to be effected i will need the following information from you : 1.Your full name:2.Your full residential address:3.Your direct telephone number:4.Your date of birth and occupation: With all these informations i will successfully inputs your name in the necessary files and also insert your information into the bank central computer as the next of kin to the late depositor and the sole beneficiary of the unclaimed fund after the demise of the depositor. Note that i need to insert your name into the bank central computer and a file will be opened in your name, so with these information i will definitely commence with the processing of the fund in your name,so that when you are contacting the bank your name will appear in the bank central computer as the next of kin to the late depositor. I want you to know that this transaction is 100%risk free because all necessary documents to prove u as the beneficiary will be processed with your name.I want you to handle this business offer with utmost confidentiality and keep it as top secret because the Bank must not know that i gave you this information. Furthermore after the whole processing of the fund in your name you will need to contact the bank which i shall give you the contact information and the required proofs which you shall offer the bank as the heir and you will apply for the transfer of the fund to your bank account. . After you might have applied for the release of the said fund and as soon as your letter reach the desk of the customer care service an official and professional response will be given to your letter of application , an official verification will be followed to screen your information contained in your application letter in the bank central computer and i assure you that your information will be met in the bank central computer as the next of kin/beneficiary and claimant of the said funds. As soon as you are been confirmed as the next of kin , the customer care department will give you an official invitation to come down to Nigeria because there are valuable and vital governmental certificate and banking documents that required your original signature which you are to sign here in Nigeria originally as the beneficiary of the funds before the release of the funds could be effected. In this case i will advise you to apply for the documents to be sent to you by courier service at your own cost meaning that you will have to pay the courier service fee that may be charged by the bank to enable the courier companysend you the documents due to your inability to come down to Nigeria to sign the documents. If this is agreed by you I want you to state it clearly in your reply to enable me to be able to commence with the processing of the funds in your name. Immediately you apply for the documents to be sent to you by courier service the bank director will ask you to send the courier fee and as soon as you send the courier fee the whole documents will be sent to you by courier service and you will have these documents signed originally in accordance with the bank procedure after you finished the signing the documents the funds will be reflect in your bank account within 3 working days. I hope you understand me?. If so pls act in accordance with me by sending me a mail with require information needed for the commencement of the processing of the fund. Note that your utmost confidentiality as regards this transaction is required. You are to keep it top secret and confidential matters for us to progress and for security sake cos the bank must not know i am behind your claim of this funds and for us achieve our aim . I look forward to your earliest reply to this issue or send reply or contact me directly on my mobile phone number +234 8022964222
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