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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: "MR. DAVID THOMPSON" <info@ins.com>
Reply-To: thompsondavid921@yahoo.com.ph
Date: Mon, 16 Sep 2013 08:30:29 -0700
Subject: REFERENCE: YOUR OUTSTANDING PAYMENT

Sir,

REFERENCE: YOUR OUTSTANDING PAYMENT.


Your file was referred to my office for immediate vetting and approval. We have tried to approve this remittance but could not do so due to the following reasons.


Firstly, we don’t have your valid account information for the remittance.


Secondly, we could not harmonize your payment in the IMF central data base.


Please read the following carefully for a clearer understanding.


Be informed that the above transfer was referred to this office for immediate approval. And after a very thorough scrutiny of the information contained in your file as forwarded to my desk, it becomes more logical that you are the true beneficially of this fund.


But the only reason why the payment/transfer could not be approved today as scheduled was that the details of the transaction was not very clear. This was because a lot of things do not add up in the payment/transfer reference file in our custody.


The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has outlined a legal due process which every genuine contractor or genuine inheritance benefactor must pass through before the approval/authorization of his or her fund. Below are the mandatory terms of settlement.


The payment details must be on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) data base.


There must be due process clearance on the payment from the price intelligence unit of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).


The beneficiary must pass the DMO oral telephone interview Any beneficiary whose claim has lasted for over three years must tender a fresh oats and affidavit of claim. In case of a next-of kin to a deceased contractor, there must be genuine evidence that confirms that the real contractor is dead.


In order to check fraud, no third party representative is required. This includes lawyers/attorneys, agents, representatives etc. This means that every beneficiary must process his payment himself. Legal aspects of the transaction are handled by our legal department. Finally, the beneficiary must send the first three pages of his/her international passport. This must be scanned to us through e-mail.


Claims are settled within 24 hours of the fulfillment of the above. Each claim that qualifies for payment is forwarded to the legal department of the paying bank for a Debit Concession which allows the deduction of all charges associated with the transfer from the principal payment value. This saves the beneficiary the stress of upfront payments.


This was just to mention a few so that you can clearly understand the reason why we could not harmonize your payment details with the Treasury/Audit Department of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).


Now, you know very well that you did not meet the above conditions; therefore you must need to follow our instructions so that your fund will be approved and released to you.


We will give you further update as soon as we receive your acknowledgement of this letter.

Yours faithfully

MR. DAVID THOMPSON
INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND (IMF), LONDON
Email: imf-security.dept@live.com

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