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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: "Hiro Jiro" <jh_iroko@excite.com>
Reply-To: <jiro_h01@yahoo.com>
Date: Sun, 30 Dec 2007 05:52:41 -0800
Subject: Greetings from Japan. I am soliciting for your willingness to assist.

Hello,

Greetings from Japan.

I am soliciting for your willingness to assist.

For this transaction to commence, I will need you to tell me about yourself and provide me with your details so I can be sure of who I am about to engage in business and if you have the capacity to handle sums of this
nature.

I would respectfully request that you keep the contents of this mail confidential and respect the integrity of the information you come by as a result of this mail. I contacted you independently of our investigation and
no one is informed of this communication.

Sometime in 1999, a certain consultant/contractor Mr. Charles Russell made a numbered time (Fixed) Deposit for twelve calendar months, valued at large
amount (Amount withheld for known reasons) in my branch. Upon maturity, I sent a routine notification to his forwarding address in America but got no reply. After a month, we sent a reminder and finally we discovered from his contract employers, the Japanese Solid Minerals Corporation that Mr. Charles Russell died longside his longtime companion, from an airplane crash.
Further proof of the death of Mr. Charles Russell is in the following web pages for you to make confirmations and further research about his death:
http://archives.cnn.com/2000/US/02/01/alaska.airlines.list/index.html
http://html.thenewmexicochannel.com/sh/news/stories/nat-news-20000201-133854.html
http://www.alamo-girl.com/0366.htm
If you are familiar with private banking affairs, those who patronize our services usually prefer anonymity, but also some levels of detachment from conventional processes. In his bio-data form, he listed no next of kin. In the field of private banking, opening an account with us means no one will know of its existence, accounts are rarely held under a name; depositors use numbers and codes to make the accounts anonymous.

This bank also gives the choice to depositors of having their mail sent to them or held at the bank itself, ensuring that there are no traces of the account. Private banking clients apart from not nominating any next of kin
also usually in most cases leave WILLS in our care, in this case; Mr. Charles Russell died intestate.In line with our internal processes for account holders who have passed away, my bank conducted a search in good faith to determine who should have right to claim the estate.

This has for the past months been unfruitful. This sum has since been sitting in my bank and the interest is being rolled over with the principal sum at the end of each year. No one, it is evident is going to come forward for it. According to the Laws of my environment, at the expiration of 7(seven) years, the money will revert to the ownership of the Japanese Government if nobody applies to claim the funds. What I wish to relate to you will smack of unethical practice but I want you to understand something. It is only an outsider to the banking world who finds the internal politics of the banking world aberrational.

The world of banking especially is fraught with huge rewards for those who occupy certain offices and oversee certain portfolios. I alone have the deposit details and they will release the deposit to no one unless evidence of relationship with the deceased, which I shall provide you with, is presented. I alone know of the existence of this deposit for as far as the Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi is concerned, the bank's management has no single idea of the history or nature of the deposit. They are simply awaiting instructions to release the deposit to the party that comes forward. This is the situation. My bank has spent great amounts of money trying to track this man's family; they have investigated for months and have found no relative. The investigation has come to an end.

Consequently, what I propose is that I will like you as a foreigner to stand in as the next of kin to Mr. Charles Russell so that the fruits of this old man's labour will not get into the hands of some corrupt government officials. Acting in this capacity really is simple as I will explain in detail to you when I get your response.

Being aware of this request I am making, 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. You may not know this but people like me 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. If you will not work with me let me know and I will move on with my life but do not destroy me. I am a family man and this is an opportunity to provide my family with new opportunities. The reward for this project makes 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.

My position as the Branch Manager guarantees the successful execution of this transaction. If you find yourself able to work with me, I urge you to indicate to that effect.

I am certain that we can conclude this transaction within ten (10) banking days from the date of my receipt of the reconfirmation of relevant information from you as I have outlined below:

Your Full Name:

Age:

Profession/Occupation:

Your Present address;

Your Address as at 24th November 1998 (date of the drafting of the
Will):

Your confidential Telephone number (not voicemail or answering
machine):

Your secured Fax number (Dedicated and always available on fax):
Your most secured E mail address:

I will proceed to appointing an attorney who will prepare the necessary documents and affidavits which will put you in place as the next of kin to Mr. Charles Russell (the deceased depositor). The attorney will draft a backdated WILL to purport that it had been written and signed by the depositor himself, which will name you as the beneficiary/sole executor of the described inheritance therein the WILL and the attorney will file in the High court the appropriate affidavit in order to empower you as the next of kin/Sole Beneficiary and Trustee/Sole Executor of the Estate of the depositor which includes the Funds, which with the payment of the same due to you as the next of kin and executor of the WILL. The very good thing about this transaction is that it will be done in a very proper and legal manner.
After all the necessary documentation for the funds release are met and satisfied, an approval may be given by the board of my bank for the release of the funds to your nominated account.
I wish to inform you that should you contact me via official channels; I will deny knowing you and about this project. Contact me only through the numbers I will provide for you and also through this email address. 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, again, note I am a family man; I have a wife and children, 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.

In closing, please observe utmost confidentiality, and be rest assured that this transaction would be most profitable for both of us.

Awaiting your urgent reply.

Yours Sincerely,
Mr. Hiroko Jiro


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