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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: Gerald Johnson <geraldjhjh4@gmail.com>
Reply-To: geraldjhjh3@gmail.com
Date: Mon, 16 May 2011 07:37:07 -0500
Subject: From Gerald Johnson



Good day, my name is Gerald Johnson,i work with a notable bank in
wales as a senior staff . I have an urgent
and very confidential business proposition for you,I contacted you
because of your good name to the society and i believe that we can
handle the situation together.A deceased man who was a Gold Dealer
made a numbered time (Fixed) Deposit in our bank, Upon maturity,I sent
a routine notification to his forwarding address but got no
reply.After some months, I sent a reminder to the same address, and
was told that he died from an automobile accident.I therefore made
further investigation and discovered that he did not declare any next
of kin or relations in all his official documents, including his Bank
Deposit paperwork in my Bank. This sum of 10,600,000.00 Pounds is
still sitting in my Bank and the interest is being rolled over with
the Principal sum at the end of each year. No one will ever come
forward to claim it, my proposal is that I will like you as a
foreigner to stand in as the next of kin to the deceased so that the
fruits of this old man's labour will not get into the hands of some
government officials.The money will be paid into your account for us
to share in the ratio of 60% for me and 40% for you.I want to assure
you that the procedures and processes involved in this transaction
would be handled and observed legally, so you do not have to be afraid
as all aspect of risks are eliminated..
I have planned this deal in such a way that we will never have
problem, All legal documents to back-up this fund will accompany the
funds to your account, you will never have problem with the financial
institute of your country or mine or from any source, but you must
keep this information only to yourself until the money is successfully
transferred.You will be required to provide this remaining information;
MARITAL STATUS
YOUR AGE:
MOBILE PHONE NUMBER;
OCCUPATION:
POSITION/RANK IN OFFICE:
A SCANNED COPY OF EITHER YOUR INTERNATIONAL PASSPORT OR
DRIVERS LICENSE.
In my next email, i will give you the contact of a seasoned lawyer who
will help us to get all the Required legal papers, but i will want you
to respond to me immediately, even if you have not Scanned your ID,
you can still respond so that i will make sure that this transaction
did not exceed more than 10 working days and the money will be
transferred to your account.
Awaiting your urgent response
Yours Faithfully,
Gerald Johnson









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