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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: MR.ABDULLAH SAIF <abdullahsaif@myway.com>
Date: Tue, 11 Dec 2007 00:13:59 -0800
Subject: Good news, reply urgent


DEAR FRIEND,
I am Mr.Abdullah Saif Executive Director of one of the appex bank.
An Iragi named Haider Hanoon,a business man made a numbered fixed deposit for =
18 calendar months, this is valued to Seventten million Five Hundred =
Thousand United State Dollars only in my branch. Upon maturity several notice =
was sent to him, even during the war, three years ago (2003). Again after the =
war another notification was sent and still no response came from him. We =
later found out that Haider Hanoon and his family had been killed during the =
war in Gunfire that hit their home at Mukaradeeb where his personal oil well =
was.
After further investigation it was also discovered that Haider Hanoon did not =
declare any next of kin in his official papers including the paper work of =
his bank deposit. And he also confided in me the last time he was at my =
office that no one except me knew of his deposit in my bank. So, Seventeen =
million Five Hundred Thousand United State Dollars is still lying in my bank =
and no one will ever come forward to claim it. What bothers me is that =
according to the laws of my country at the expiration five years six months =
the funds will revert to the ownership of the Government if nobody applies to =
claim the funds.
My proposal, I am prepared to place you as the next of kin in a position to =
instruct the BANK to release the deposit to you as the closest surviving =
relation. Upon receipt of the deposit, I am prepared to share the money with =
you in half. That is: I will simply nominate you as the next of kin and have =
them release the deposit to you. We share the procentange 50/50. I would have =
gone ahead to ask the funds be released to me, but that would have drawn a =
straight line in my involvement in claiming the deposit.I assure you that I =
could have the deposit released to you within a few days. I will simply =
inform the bank of the final closing of the file relating to Haider Hanoon I =
will then officially communicate with my Bank and instruct them to release =
the deposit to you. With these: all is done. I am aware of the consequences =
of this proposal.
I ask that if you find no interest in this project that you should discard =
this mail. I ask that 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. =
Do not destroy my career because you do not approve of my proposal. You may =
not know this but people like myself who have made tidy sums out of =
comparable situations run the whole private banking sector. I am not a =
criminal and what I do, I do not 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 opportunities only come ones way once in a lifetime. I =
cannot let this chance pass me by, for once I find myself in total control of =
my destiny. These chances wont pass me by. I ask that you do not destroy my =
chance, if you will not work with me let me know and let me move on with my =
life but do not destroy me. I am a family man and this is an opportunity to =
provide them with new opportunities. There is a reward for this project and =
it is a task well worth undertaking. I have evaluated the risks and the only =
risk I have here is from you refusing to work with me and alerting my bank. I =
am the only one who knows of this situation, good fortune has blessed you =
with a name that has planted you into the center of relevance in my life. =
Lets
share the blessing.
If you give 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 will deny knowing you and about this project. I repeat, I do not =
want you contacting 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 will provide for you and also through the email account that i will =
provide therein in this email.
Further more be informed that the fact that you are a foreigner give you the =
privilege to stand in as my deceased client beneficiary as my deceased client =
had no relation all his family died with him during the war and I can not use =
my relation because its not accepted here . Also I am very confident that we =
will be able to establish the trust that is needed to complete this deal and =
all that I need from the time been is your willingness and commitment so that =
we can end this in the nest one weeks.
What you need to understand about this transaction is that I will make sure =
that it passes through all international banking laws regards to retaining =
the service of my Attorney to give the transaction the proper documentation =
that is required to perfect the finishing. Your only obligation in this =
transaction will be to set up two offshore accounts that can accommodate =
these funds and I will give you more light later once you agree to partner =
with me.
Like I said before there is no risk involve as it will pass through =
international banking laws and all documents related to this transaction will =
be sent to you by post for your perusal and trust.
I do not want any direct link between you and me. My official lines are not =
secure lines as they are periodically monitored to assess our level of =
customer care in line with our Total Quality Management Policy. Please =
observe this instruction religiously. Please, again, note I am a family man, =
I have wife and children. I send you this mail not without a measure of fear =
as to what the consequences, but I know within me that nothing ventured is =
nothing gained and that success and riches never come easy or on a platter of =
gold. This is the one truth I have learned from my private banking clients. =
Do not betray my confidence. If we can be of one accord, we should plan a =
meeting, soon. Should you be interested I will prefer you to reach me on the =
email address below.
E-mail:
Your earliest response to this letter will be appreciated.
I await your response.
Mr.Abdullah Saif

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