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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: XIANG LI. <xiang777li@yahoo.cn>
Reply-To: xiangliiiiii@yahoo.cn
Date: 26 Apr 2013 17:37:00 -0000
Subject: re: Greetings from China (Investment)

How are you today and business in your country? I am Mr. Xiang Li,Manager of a bank in China. 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 contacted you independently 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. I know you would be wondering why I am writing you with a request such as this but I only urge you to read on. In November 2001, a British Oil consultant/contractor with the Chinese Solid Minerals Corporation, made a numbered time (Fixed) Deposit for twelve calendar months, valued at some millions of United States dollars in my branch. Upon maturity, I sent a routine notification to his forwarding address in America and Britain but got no reply. After a month, we sent a reminder and finally we discovered from his contract employers, the Chinese Solid Minerals Corporation contractor died alongside his wife, from an airplane crash. The bank immediately launched an investigation into possible surviving next of kin to alert about the situation and also to come forward to claim his estate. If you are familiar with private banking affairs, those who patronize our services usually prefer anonymity, but also some levels of detachment from conventional processes. In his bio-data form, he listed no next of kin. In the field of private banking, opening an account with us means no one will know of its existence, accounts are rarely held under a name; depositors use numbers and codes to make the accounts anonymous. This bank also gives the choice to depositors of having their mail sent to them or held at the bank itself, ensuring that there are no traces of the account and as I said, rarely do they nominate next of kin. Private banking clients apart from not nominating next of kin also usually in most cases leave wills in our care, in this case; the British Oil consultant/contractor died interstate. 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. This money has since been 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. According to the Laws of Republic of China, at the expiration of 6 (six) years, the money will revert to the ownership of the Chinese Government if nobody applies to claim the funds. What I wish to relate to you will smack of 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 banking especially is fraught with huge rewards for those who occupy certain offices and oversee certain portfolios. This is the situation. This bank has spent great amounts of money trying to track this man\'s family; they have investigated for months and have found no family. The investigation has come to an end. Consequently, 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 corrupt government officials. A bank account in any part of the world that you then provide me with will then facilitate the transfer of this money to you as the beneficiary/next of kin. The money will be paid into your account for us to share 70/30. 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 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 me 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 hard for you to understand, but the dynamics of my industry dictates that I make this move. Such opportunities only come ones\' way once in a lifetime. I cannot let this chance pass me by, for once I find myself in total control of my destiny.m 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 for you and also through the email address I have provided. 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. In closing, please observe utmost confidentiality, and be rest assured that this transaction would be most profitable for both of us. Upon receiving your reply, I will then furnish you with a more comprehensive detail of this transaction, the amount involved and what is required of you in order for us to achieve the success of this business. Awaiting your urgent reply, PLEASE NOTE THAT YOU ARE TO SEND ME YOUR RESPONSE/REPLY TO THE FOLLOWING EMAIL ADDRESS: xiangliiiiii@yahoo.cn It is very important that you note from this very onset that all that I require from you is just your person, I will take care of all expenses and what not. Yours Sincerely, XIANG LI. CHINA .P.R

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