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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: "james micheal" <michaelesq2@mailbox.hu>
Date: Fri, 23 May 2008 18:52:07 -0700
Subject: YOUR ASSISTANCE IS URGENTLY NEEDED


ACCOUNTS DEPARTMENT
ECO INTERNATIONAL BANK PLC
PLOT 2, AJOSE ADEOGUN STREET
VICTORIA-ISLAND LAGOS-NIGERIA
Tel: 234 702 -8288297

Dear Friend,
Re-transfer of $18,000.000. (Eighteen Million U.S. Dollars)
First I must solicit your confidence in this transaction. This is by virtue
of its nature as being utterly confidential and top secret. We shall be
counting on your capability and reliability to prosecute a transaction of
great magnitude involving a pending business transaction requiring maximum
confidence.
We want to transfer to overseas {$18,000,000] Eighteen Million United States
dollars from Eco International Bank Nig Plc. I would like if you will be
capable and fit to provide either an existing bank account or to set up a
new Bank account immediately to receive this money, even an empty account
can serve to receive this money as long as you will remain honest to me till
the end of this important business transaction.

I am Dr James Michael, Director of Accounts Department of Eco International
Bank Plc, during the course of our auditing, I discovered a floating fund in
an account opened with our bank in 2005 and since then 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 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 was Engr. George Smith, a national of your country
an Industrialist. He died since 2006 and no other person knows about this
account or anything concerning it, the account has no beneficiary and my
investigation proved to me as well that Engr.George Smith until his death
was a Manager with an oil firm in Nigeria.

I am contacting you as a foreigner because this money can only be approved
to a foreigner with a foreign account because the money is in US Dollars and
the former owner of the account Engr. George Smith is a foreigner. I am
revealing all these information to you believing that you will never let me
down in this business. You are the first and the only person I have
contacted for this business, so please reply urgently for me to tell you the
next step to take.

You should forward the following information: Your telephone/fax numbers and
your residential address that is also needed. You will have to give me the
assurance that when we meet this money will be intact pending our physical
arrival in your country for disbursement of the fund, which will be 30% for
your assistance 65% will be for us, while 5% will be set aside to take care
of all the expenses that would be incurred by both parties during the course
of the transfer.
I look forward to your earliest response through my private email address
below:
michael_esq_legal@outgun.com

Please direct your reply via my confidential email address stated herein,
this is for utmost confidentiality of the transaction.

I look forward to your positive response
Yours faithfully,

Dr. Michael James

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