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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: "Richard Thomas" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <thrichard1@yahoo.com.hk>
Date: Tue, 6 Apr 2010 17:06:26 +0100
Subject: NOTIFICATION OF BEQUEST

NOTIFICATION OF BEQUEST

My name is Richard Thomas (ESQ). I am the Personal Assistant to the great Atlanta Physician and Philanthropists. On behalf of the Trustees and Executor of the Estate of Late George Brumley, I wish to notify you that my late client made you one of the beneficiaries of his estate. He left the sum of Seventeen Million One Hundred Thousand Dollars (USD$17,100.000.00) to you. This may sound strange and unbelievable to you,but it is real and true.

Late Mr. Brumley and all his family were among the victims that died in a charter plane crash on Mount Kenya . The flight crashed into the snow-capped,16,355-foot Lenana Peak on Mount Kenya destroying the entire plane and killing passengers on board. My Client died on the month of July 2003 at the age of 68. You can see details of his death in the CNN link below:

http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/africa/07/20/kenya.crash/index.html

He was a widely traveled man and devoted most of his time and wealth to charity and humanitarian work. His great philanthropist works is well known and recorded all over the world. He must have been in contact with you in the past or you were nominated to him in his vision to expand the Charity works. Simply put, he was a very dedicated Sufis and Christian who loved to give out. His great philanthropy earned him numerous awards during his life time. In dedicating this funds to you and other beneficiaries, he instructed that you are to use part of the funds to promote his legacy through activities that aims to help the old, poor, needy and disabled in the society. My Client legacy is the love of charity.

Please If I reach you as I am hopeful, endeavor to get back to me as soon as possible so we can start processing the release of the funds to you. You are to reply me immediately providing the following information:

1.Your Full names.
2.Valid Contact address.
3.Contact Telephone, cell phone and fax numbers.

The WILL DOCUMENT will be send to you as soon as you send to me the above information to claim your inheritance.

Yours faithfully,

Richard Thomas (ESQ).

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