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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: "Sam Morse" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <emcrp_private11@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Fri, 17 Feb 2012 22:13:26 -0500
Subject: Thanks & Happy New Year

Hello,

I work for Fidelity Investment International, United Kingdom as a Portfolio Manager. I am writing following an opportunity in my office that will be of immense benefit to us. In 2008, Gordon Brown as the Prime Minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland said that some of the money held in dormant accounts would be used to fund youth and community projects. This never materialized due to selfish interests. There is an estimated 15bn Pounds held in dormant accounts. We can claim these funds and channel it properly for the underprivileged all around the world. Kindly visit the following link.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4017381.stm

As a Portfolio Manager, I'm responsible for the Fidelity European Fund. In my portfolio of investor's I discovered an abandoned investment account worth 70 M Pounds belonging to one of our foreign customers who unfortunately lost his life in the plane crash of Flight 261 which crashed on January 1st 2000. The choice of contacting you came up from the geographical nature of where you live, particularly due to the sensitivity of the transaction and the confidentiality herein. Now Fidelity has been waiting for any of the relatives to come-up for the claim but nobody has done that. I have been unsuccessful in locating the relatives for years now. I seek your consent to present you as the next of kin to the deceased so that the proceeds of this account can be paid to you. This will be disbursed or shared in these percentages, 60% to me and 40% to you. All I require now is your honest co-operation; confidentiality and trust to enable us see this transaction through.

Also it is important to note that we cannot transfer these funds once, so we must establish a plat form to accommodate the transfer in installments. I guarantee you that this will be executed under a legitimate arrangement that will protect you from any breach of the law. Please, provide me the following as we have 21 days to run it through. To affirm your willingness and cooperation to my proposal please contact me through email stating the following:

1. Full Name 2. Your Tel/Cell Phone Number 3. Your Contact Address. 4. Your Occupation. 5. DOB.

Your response will be appreciated. Thank you.

Kind Regards,

Sam Morse.
Funds Manager,
Fidelity Investment International,
United Kingdom.

Anti-fraud resources: