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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: "Terry Gilliam" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <tgilliam54@excite.co.uk>
Date: Thu, 20 Oct 2011 03:00:25 -0700
Subject: Industry growth.

TERRY GILLIAM
South Quay Plaza
183 Marsh Wall
London
E14 9SR

I am Terry Gillaim, British citizen and Principal assurance manager for the HSBC in London. A staff of Yokozona consultancy firm got in touch with me regarding the estate of Philip Smith. And an investment placed under our banks management 3 years ago. I would respectfully request that you keep the contents of this mail confidential and respect the integrity of the information you come by as a result of this mail. I contact you independent of our investigation and no one is informed of this communication.

I would like to intimate you with certain facts that I believe would be of interest to you. In 1997, the subject matter; Philip Smith came to our bank to engage in business discussions with our private banking division. He informed us that he had a financial portfolio of $45.500.000.00 United States dollars, which he wished to have us turn over (invest) on his behalf. I was the officer assigned to his case; I made numerous suggestions in line with my duties as the de-facto chief operations officer, especially given the volume of funds he wished to put into our bank. We met on numerous occasions prior to any investments being placed. I encouraged him to consider various growth funds with prime ratings. The favored route in my advice to customers is to start by assessing data on 6000 traditional stocks and bond managers and 2000 managers of alternative investments. Based on my advice, We spun the money around various opportunities and made attractive margins within few month
s of operation, the accrued profi

We undertook all the processes and made sure I followed his precise instructions to the letter and had the funds deposited at United Assets Management UK United Kingdom. United Assets Management UK is a specialist bank that accepts deposits from high net worth individuals and blue chip corporations that handle valuable products or undertake transactions that need immediate access to cash. In Line with instructions, the money was deposited with United Assets Management UK (in their Securities Trading Firm).

Philip Smith told me he wanted the money there as soon as he got into the United Kingdom, This was the last communication we had, this transpired around 25th February 1999. In Sept last year, we got a call from United Assets Management UK informing us about the inactivity of that particular portfolio. This was an astounding position as far as I was concerned, given the fact that I managed the International private banking sector I was the only one who knew about the deposit at United Assets Management UK, and I could not understand why Philip Smith had not come forward to claim his deposit. I made futile efforts to locate Philip Smith. Four days later, information started to trickle in, apparently Philip Smith was dead. A person who suited his description was declared dead of AUTO ACCIDENT TRAUMA in Birmingham England. We were soon enough, able to identify the body and cause of death was confirmed. The bank immediately launched an investigation into possible surviving next of
kin to alert about the situation

Private banking clients apart from not nominating next of kin also usually in most cases leave wills in our care, in this case; Philip Smith died intestate.

In line with our internal processes for account holders who have passed away, we instituted our own investigations in good faith to determine who should have right to claim the estate. This investigation has for the past months been unfruitful. We have scanned every continent and used our private investigation affiliate companies to get to the root of the problem. It is this investigation that resulted in my being furnished with your details as a possible relative of the deceased. My official capacity dictates that I am the only party to supervise the investigation and the only party to receive the results of the investigation. You have unfortunately declared, and I know that you are in no way affiliated with this individual. What this means, you being the last batch of names we have considered is that our dear late fellow died with no known or identifiable family member. This leaves me as the only person with the full picture of what the prevailing situation is in relation t
o the deposit and the late benefi

According to practice, United Assets Management UK will by the end of this quarter broadcast a request for statements of claim to HSBC in London, failing to receive viable claims they will most probably revert the deposit back to HSBC in London. This will result in the money entering the HSBC in London accounting system and the portfolio will be out of my hands and out of the private banking division. This will not happen if I have my way. What I wish to relate to you will smack off unethical practice but I want you to understand something. It is only an outsider to the banking world who finds the internal politics of the banking world aberrational. The world of private banking especially is fraught with huge rewards for those who occupy certain offices and oversee certain portfolios. You should have begun by now to put together the general direction of what I propose. There is $45.500,000.00 deposited in United Assets Management UK, I alone have the deposit details and they
will release the deposit to no o

My proposal, I am prepared to place you as the next of kin in a position to instruct United Assets Management UK to release the deposit to you as the closest surviving relation. Upon receipt of the deposit, I am prepared to share the money with you in half. That is: I will simply nominate you as the next of kin and have them release the deposit to you. We share the proceeds 50/50.

I would have gone ahead to ask the funds be released to me, but that would have drawn a straight line in my involvement in claiming the deposit. I assure you that I could have the deposit released to you within a few days. I will simply inform the bank of the final closing of the file relating to Philip Smith I will then officially communicate with United Assets Management UK and instruct them to release the deposit to you. With these: all is done. I am aware of the consequences of this proposal. I ask that if you find no interest in this project that you should discard this mail. I ask that you do not be vindictive and destructive. If my offer is of no appeal to you, delete this message and forget I ever contacted you. Do not destroy my career because you do not approve of my proposal. You may not know this but people like myself who have made tidy sums out of comparable situations run the whole private banking sector. I am not a criminal and what I do, I do not find against
good conscience, this may be har

If you give me positive signals, I will initiate this process towards a conclusion. I wish to inform you that should you contact me via official channels; I will deny knowing you and about this project. I repeat, I do not want you contacting me through my official phone lines nor do I want you contacting me through my official email account. Contact me only through the numbers I will provide you with and also through this email address; (tgilliam54@excite.co.uk). I do not want any direct link between you and me. My official lines are not secure lines as they are periodically monitored to assess our level of customer care in line with our Total Quality Management Policy. Please observe this instruction religiously. Please, again, note I am a family man; I have a wife and children. I send you this mail not without a measure of fear as to what the consequences are, but I know within me that nothing ventured is nothing gained and that success and riches never come easy or on a pl
atter of gold. This is the one tr

I await your response.

Respectfully,

Terry Gillaim


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