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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: =?UTF-8?B?IkRyLiBBYXJvbiBQYXVsIg==?= <portopecas@terra.com.br>
Date:
Subject:

Greetings Dear Friend,

I am Dr. Aaron Paul. The Auditor = in charge of Foreign Remittance Department of a Bank in the Commercial city= of Cotonou, Benin Republic.

This is a very confidential proposition= for you. On July 21st 2003,an Importer of Textiles  and Automobiles f= or the past Thirteen years made a numbered time  (Fixed) Deposit for t= welve calendar months, valued at ten million seven hundred thousand  U= nited States Dollars (US$10.7musd) in my branch.

Upon maturity on Ju= ly 20th 2004 as his Credit Officer, I sent a routine notification to his&nb= sp; forwarding address but got no reply.

After a month, we sent a re= minder and finally I discovered from his employees, that Client was one of = the passengers who died with his entire family in the ill-fated plane crash= involving a UTA Boeing 727 Chartered Flight that took off from Cotonou Ben= in Republic and crashed into Atlantic Ocean on Thursday 25th December 2003.=

For further details of the Plane Crash, Please Visit http://news.bb= c.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3348109.stm Further investigations, and all attempts to= trace his next of kin was fruitless.

Again, I made further investig= ation and discovered that the Client did not declare any next of kin or rel= ations in all his official documents, including his Bank Deposit paper work= in my Bank.

This sum of ten million seven hundred thousand United S= tates Dollars (US$10.7 million USD) is still sitting in my Bank no one will= ever come forward to claim it.

According to the International Banki= ng ethics, codes and Laws, at the expiration of ten (10) years, the money w= ill revert to the ownership of the Benin Government if nobody applies to cl= aim the fund.

Consequently, my proposal is that I will like you as a= foreigner to stand in as the next of kin to the deceased.

This is s= imple, I will like you to respond immediately with your full names and cont= act information so as I will send to you a specimen copy of an application = form which you will refill and send to the bank putting claim over the said= balance with the bank as the bonafide next of kin to the deceased.

= The money will be paid into your account for us to share in the ratio of 50= % for me and 40% for you, while 5% will be set aside for any expenses that = may arise in the process of transferring this fund into your chosen/nominat= ed bank account you wish to receive it, and 5% to the motherless and the ne= edy in your country.

Upon your response, I shall then provide you wi= th more details and relevant information.

Please send to me your con= fidential telephone and fax numbers for easy communication, oral discussion= and more directives on what next to do.

You should observe utmost c= onfidentiality and be rest assured that this transaction would be most prof= itable for both of us because I shall require your assistance to invest my = share in your country which you will be the arrow head of the investment.
I must not fail to tell you that this transaction is totally risk fre= e and legitimate as far as you can follow up with my instructions and direc= tives as an insider here in the bank, so, don't have any fear in you about = the transaction.

I Await your urgent reply.

Email> aaronp4= 67@gmail.com

Thanks and God bless.

Dr. Aaron Paul.

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