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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: "Hank Martin" <industry@smef.org.bd> (may be fake)
Reply-To: hankmartin@sify.com
Date: Tue, 25 May 2010 15:43:58 -0000 (UTC)
Subject: MuteMusic production Industry




Dear friend,

How are you on this fine day? I hope this email finds you in good
condition, good
spirits, STI-free and pleasantly drunk. Please read carefully what I am
about to
tell you, I got your email from an online friend who has worked with you
in the
past.

My name is Hank Martin, I am a senior producer here at MuteMusic
Productions. I have
worked with some of the top names in the music industry in my 40 year
career, names
like Rick Astley, Gary Glitter, Mr. Blobby and more recently, dance-punk
band Test
Icicles. We have studios based all over the world, ranging from Nepal to
Newzerland.

In recent months, myself and my team have been developing a new kind of
music –
music for the deaf. We have pumped a lot of our own money into this work,
and feel
we are now at a point where we are confident that it works. This is how it
works in
simple terms; The patient is given a small microchip that is implanted
into their
anus. This, when hooked up to our specially developed ‘iDeaf’ mp3 player,
allows the
recipient to hear music in high-quality 320kbit/s bitrate.

Right now, we are looking for both musicians and investors to help us out.
We have
come to you as I have been informed you have a reputation either musically
or in
terms of investment. I hope that we can work together in some form.

If you are willing to help this project, please email me back
at:hankmartin@sify.com

Regards, and have a nice day
Hank Martin

Anti-fraud resources: