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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: Mr Shigeru Oba <shigeruoba7@terra.com>
Date: Wed, 24 Feb 2010 05:19:14 -0800
Subject: Please Confirm Receipt

HSBC BANK kashi Hongoku-cho Chuo-ku, Tokyo 103-8660 Japan Name: Mr Shigeru Oba Email: shigeru4@terra.com Attn., I know that this mail will come to you as a surprise, Please accept the content in good faith. I do not intend to cause any grief to you and your family. The reason for sending this mail is very fundamental to the doctrine of human privileges and right. My name is Mr Shigeru Oba an account Auditor and the personal Account officer to the deceased my client who is also a Citizen of your country who died along with his wife and two sons in the Tube explosion between Momochihama, Sawara-ku Fukuoka the northeastern part of the former Sawara-gun here in Japan.. My client who was a successful and is an accomplished family man, who made enough fortune before his untimely death. Since then I had made several Inquiries through your Embassy to locate any of my clients extended relative but this exercise has proved unsuccessful. After several unsuccessful attempts, I decided to trace his relatives through the Internet, to locate any member of his family, not much progress was recorded. My late client was an influential wealthy businessman, and a consultant with the Japanese Institute of Minning and Metellurgy here in Japan and he left behind a deposit of Twelve Million Two Hundred Thousand United State Dollars only ($12.2Million usd). After the death of my client the senior officials of my bank contacted me, as his account officer to provide his next of kin who should inherit his funds. The board of directors of my bank adopted a resolution and I was mandated to provide his next of kin for the payment of this money within 28 Working days or forfeit the money to the bank as an abandoned property. My superior here in my bank had planned to invoke the abandoned property decree of 1996 to confiscate the funds after the expiration of the period given to me. Fortunately, I came across your name, to my greatest astonishment, I discovered that you bear the same surname with my late client and coincidentally, you are nationals of the same country. Being convinced that you may be related with my late client or that you might provide clue to my search, I therefore, decided to contact with these facts before me, because of the similarities. By virtue of my closeness to the deceased and his immediate family, I am very much aware of my client financial standing and the bank account he operates. I have reasoned very professionally and I feel it will be legally proper to present you as the next of kin of my deceased client, so that you can be paid the funds left in his bank account. I therefore seek your consent to present you as the Next of Kin to the Deceased since you are at an advantage, bearing the same surname and equally from the same country that the proceeds of this Bank Account valued at ($12.2Million usd) can be paid to you. We shall both share the funds. 55% for me and 40% to you, while 5% should be for Expenses or your Government may require as Tax. I shall assemble all the necessary Legal Documents that will be used to back up your claim. All I require is your honest cooperation to enable us seeing this deal through. I guarantee that this will be executed under a legitimate arrangement that will protect you from any breach of law. Please get in touch with me by email to enable us discuss further. I will be expecting to hear from you. Regards, Mr Shigeru Oba

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