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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: "MICHAEL HAMILTON" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mikehamilton@excite.co.uk>
Date: Wed, 9 Apr 2014 19:09:15 +0100
Subject: For Your Kind Consideration


Michael Hamilton
Email: mikehamilton@excite.co.uk
South Quay Plaza
183 Marsh Wall
London, E14 9SR

My name is Michael Hamilton, I am a principal assurance manager
for HSBC Bank in London. We are conducting a standard process
investigation with respect to a deceased client and
the circumstances surrounding investments he made at the
Private Banking arm of HSBC Bank. This man died intestate and
nominated no successor in title over the investments made with
the bank. I would respectfully request that you keep the
contents of this correspondence private and respect the
integrity of the information you come by as a result of this
communication.

I contact you independent of our investigation and assure that
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 am prepared to place you in a position to
instruct the firm to release the deposit to you as the closest
surviving relation. Upon receipt of the deposit, I am prepared
to share the money with you, that is, I will simply nominate you
as the next of kin and have them release the deposit to you. We
shall disburse the proceeds equally i.e. 50/50. I would have gone
ahead to ask the funds be released to me, but that would have
drawn a straight line to me and my involvement in claiming the
deposit. But, you on the other hand, would easily pass as the
beneficiary with right to claim the funds. I assure you that I
could have the deposit released to you within a few days. The
amount in question is US$48,375,000.00

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
message. I ask that you do not be vindictive and destructive. If
my offer is of no appeal to you, destroy 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 myself,
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 once in a lifetime. I cannot let this chance
pass me by. For once, I have found myself in total control of my
destiny. This opportunity won't pass me by. I ask that you do not
destroy my chance. If you will not work with me let me know and let
me move on with my life but do not destroy me. I am a family man and
this is an opportunity to provide them with new opportunities.

There is a reward for this project and it is a task well worth
undertaking. I have evaluated the risks and the only risk I have here
is from you refusing to work with me. I am the only one who knows of
this situation, good fortune has blessed you with a name that has
planted you into the center of relevance in my life. Let’s share this
blessing. If you give me positive signals, I will initiate this
process towards a conclusion. 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 following email
address: mikehamilton@excite.co.uk . I do not want any official
direct link between you and me. 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. Please, again, note
I am a family man, I have wife and children. I send you this
correspondence not without a measure of fear as to what the
consequences are, but I know within me that nothing ventured is
nothing gained and that success and riches never come easy or on a
platter of gold. This is the one truth I have learned from my private
banking clients. Do not betray my confidence. If we can be of one
accord, we should plan a meeting, soon.

I await your response.

Respectfully,

Michael Hamilton
Email:mikehamilton@excite.co.uk

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