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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: "OCEANIC BANK PLC" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <jamesdurucb@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 1 Sep 2010 03:59:10 -0700
Subject: DEAR BENEFICIARY,

OCEANIC BANK PLC
FOREIGN REMITTANCE UNIT.
OZUMBA MBADIWE VICTORIA ISLAND
LAGOS NIGERIA.
TELEGRAM: OCEANIC BANK PLC.
 
 
DEAR BENEFICIARY,
 
 
VERIFICATION OF YOUR PAYMENT/WINNINGS FILE.
 
THIS IS TO INFORM YOU THAT FROM THE RECORDS OF OUTSTANDING PAYMENT WITH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OF NIGERIA, THE SOUTH AFRICAN GOVERNMENT, THE UNITED KINGDOM GOVERNMENT, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF GHANA, REPUBLIQUE DE COTE D'LVOIRE YOUR NAME/PARTICULARS WAS DISCOVERED AS NEXT ON THE LIST OF OUTSTANDING CONTRACTOR/INHERITANCE/LOTTERY WINNER WHO HAVE NOT RECEIVED THEIR PAYMENT.
 
I WISH TO INFORM YOU THAT YOUR PAYMENT IS BEING PROCESSED FROM THE ABOVE PAN AFRICAN BANK (Oceanic Bank Int’l Plc) AND WILL BE RELEASED TO YOU AS SOON AS YOU RESPOND TO THIS LETTER. ALSO NOTE THAT FROM THE RECORD IN MY FILE, YOU ARE FOUND AS ONE OF THE ABOVE BENEFICIARIES FROM THE ABOVE MENTIONED NATIONS YET TO RECEIVE OUTSTANDING PAYMENT OF (US$10.5m)
 
 
KINDLY RE-CONFIRM TO ME THE FOLLOWING:
 
 
1)YOUR FULL NAME.............................................
 
 
2)YOUR CONTACT ADDRESS .......................................
 
 
3)YOUR FULL BANKING DATA.......................................
 
 
4)PHONE AND MOBILE...............................................
 
 
5)CERTIFIED BANK DRAFT ...........................................
 
 
6)DIRECT WIRE TRANSFER .............................................
 
 
7)AGE AND MARITAL STATUS........................................
 
 
AS SOON AS THE ABOVE INFORMATION ARE RECEIVED, YOUR PAYMENT WILL BE MADE TO YOU IN A CERTIFIED BANK DRAFT OR DIRECT WIRE TRANSFER TO YOUR NOMINATED BANK ACCOUNT FROM EITHER OF OUR UNITED STATES PAYMENT CENTERS; CITI BANK NEW YORK OR BANK OF AMERICA CALIFORNIA, ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND AND HSBC BANK IN LONDON UK.
 
YOU CAN EMAIL ME ON MY DIRECT MAIL ADDRESS AS SOON AS YOU RECEIVE THIS MEMO FOR MORE DETAILS.
 
 
REGARDS,
 
REV JAMES DURU
DIRECTOR FOREIGN REMITTANCE UNIT.
OCEANIC BANK PLC

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