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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: JAMES WILLIAMS <j.w19@live.com>
Reply-To: jame.swill@live.co.uk
Date: Tue, 11 May 2010 12:39:38 -0500
Subject: DID YOU GET MY MAIL?

From The Desks Of
Mr.James Williams
Intercontinental Bank Plc.
Lagos, Nigeria.

Good day,
I am Mr. James Williams, Bank Manager of Intercontinental Bank plc, Lagos
Branch.

Having consulted and based on the information gathered from the Nigerian
Chambers Of Commerce And Industry, I have the privilege to request your
assistance in the transfer of USD$25,000,000.00 (Twenty Five Million
United States Dollars) into your account.

On December 6 2000, an American oil consultant/contractor with the
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation(NNPC) Mr. Henry Gardner made a
numbered time (fixed) deposit for Twelve calendar months, valued at
USD$25,000,000.00 (Twenty Five Million Dollars) in my branch. Upon
maturity, I sent a routine notification to his forwarded address but got
no reply. After a month we sent a reminder and finally we discovered from
his contract employers NNPC, that Mr. Henry died in an automobile
accident. On further investigation, I found out that he did not leave a
WILL and all attempts to trace his next of kin were fruitless. I therefore
made further investigation and discovered that Mr. Henry did not declare
any next of kin in all his official documents, including his bank deposit
paperwork.

This sum USD$25,000,000.00 is still floating in the bank and the interest
is being rolled over with the principal sum at the end of each year. No
one will come forward to claim it. According to Nigerian Laws, at the
expiration of 10(Ten) years, the money will revert to the ownership of the
Nigerian government if nobody applies to claim the funds.

Consequently, my proposal is that I will like you as a foreigner to stand
in as a next of kin to Late Mr. Henry Gardner. This is simple;
1). I will like you to provide me immediately with your full names,
address and your phone number so that an attorney will prepare the
necessary documents and affidavits, which will put you as next of kin.

2). We shall employ the services of an attorney for drafting &
notarization of the WILL and obtain the necessary documents and letter of
probate/administration in your favor for the transfer.

The money will be paid into your account for us to share in the ratio of
60% for me and 40% for you, which we will both sign and agree to, by a
Memorandum of Understanding (M.O.U) before we proceed with the transfer of
the money to you. There is no risk at all in this transaction, as the
attorney will do the paperwork for this transaction and with my position
as the branch manager guarantees the successful execution of this
transaction.
Upon your response, I shall then provide you with more details and
relevant documents that will help you understand.

PLEASE OBSERVE UTMOST CONFIDENTIALITY, and be rest assured that this would
be most profitable for both of us because I shall require your assistance
to invest my share in your country..Awaiting your urgent reply via this
email below , please save me the anxiety of endless waiting. Please reply
to:j.w19@live.com

God bless you as you do.
Mr.James Williams
Intercontinental Bank Plc.
Lagos, Nigeria.

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