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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: "Mr William M.Daves" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <davewill2@e-mail.ua>
Date: Wed, 6 Feb 2013 10:13:06 -0600
Subject: Request For Partnership

Hello!

I am Barrister William M .Dave’s from London, United Kingdom, I am a legal practitioner, a client of mine died in 2008 but he left behind the sum of Nine million, five hundred thousand British pounds sterling (?9,500,000.00) deposited in a Bank, but unfortunately he did not specify his Heir (Next of Kin) before his sudden death.
All my efforts to trace his family members have proved abortive because he did not write a WILL prior to his death.
The British inheritance Law permits any Bank to confiscate the deceased's fund, in case the fund is left unclaimed for over a period of 19 months after the death of the account owner. However, the Bank has contacted me to provide the heir of my late client, so that they will release this fund to the person but i am yet to recommend anybody as the Heir. This is the reason why I have contacted you so that I will legally recommend you as the heir because you bear the same surname with the deceased.

According to the British Inheritance Law, it is the responsibility of the lawyer to specify the heir of the deceased and i am the personal attorney of the deceased. Therefore, I have the total right to recommend anybody as the heir and the bank will release the fund to such person.
I have all the legal documentations to complete this transaction successfully without any problems with the government in Britain and in your country, this transaction is 100% risk free, I will guide and direct you on what to do at any given time and once the fund is transferred into your account I will travel to meet you in your country so that we share the funds in the proportion of 40% for you, 40% for me and 20% will be donated to Charitable Organizations.
This inheritance claims will be legally completed, all I need from you is your total cooperation and honesty.
If you are interested to work with me kindly forward below information:

Your Full Names:
Your Mobile or Cell Phone Numbers:
Your telephone (Office and Home) Numbers:
Your fax Number:
Your occupation:
Your age:
Your nationality:

I look forward to your prompt reply.

Yours truly,
Barrister William M. Dave’s

Anti-fraud resources: