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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: Barrister Chris Melow <terry_hedges@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: chrismelow87@kimo.com
Date: Mon, 5 Nov 2012 00:28:14 -0800 (PST)
Subject: From The Desk of Chris Melow & Associate


>From The Desk of Chris Melow & Associate



Good day,



I am Barrister Chris Melow, Principal
Attorney of {Chris Melow & Associate} I am soliciting for your
confidence in this transaction by virtue of the nature of this venture
that requires confidentiality. I am not unaware of the fact that a
transaction of this magnitude will first make any one apprehensive and
overwhelmed, but I assure you that I contacted you specifically for
good and with full assurances that everything in this venture will go
well.



The project I am presenting to you is
a case of my late client who willed $15.9 million to his wife, herein
referred to, as his next of kin. It was most unfortunate that he and
his wife died on the same day in an auto-crash. I am now faced with
indecision and dilema of who to pass the funds to, as both husband and
wife died together.



This email might come as a surprise to
you, since there was no previous communication between us. My purpose
of contacting you is for you to help secure the funds left behind by my
late client, to avoid it being declared as unclaimed deposit by the
Financial Institution where the fund is presently deposited by my
client before his death.



The Financial Institution has notified
me to contact and provide an existing relative with notarized papers or
the funds will be declared unclaimed and taken over by the Financial
Institution's treasury. So far, my efforts to get hold of someone
related to my late client has proved abortive. I am actually asking for
your consent to present you to the Financial Institution as the next of
kin of my late Client for the purpose of reclaiming his funds so that
the proceeds of this will be released to you.



I shall provide all the notarized
documents to support and authenticate the claim that you are my
Client's next of kin. All I require is your honest co-operation and
commitment to enable us achieve success in this transaction.



I wish to point out that I want 10% of
this money to be shared among charity Organizations, while the
remaining 90% would be shared equally between us. I will use my
position as the client’s attorney to guarantee the successful execution
of this transaction.

Please contact me via  e-mail to: {chrismelow87@kimo.com}



Upon your positive response, I will
provide you with further details that will help you understand clearly
the processes we are to follow to achieve success on this transaction.



I will appreciate if you would provide me this information outlined below to enhance the facilitation of this transaction.



Your account number========

Name of bank===========

Bank
address============

Bank user name==========

Routing number==========


Home address============

Copy of id==============

Your phone
number==========

Your occupation ============



Looking forward to a cordial Business relationship with you.



Yours truly;

Barrister Chris Melow



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