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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 Richard Michel <mrrichardmichel85@godmail.dk>
Reply-To: michelmrrichard@yahoo.com
Date: Wed, 02 Jul 2014 19:23:22 +0200
Subject: From: Mr. Richard Michel.




From: Mr. Richard Michel.
Add: Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire.

Hello ,

I am Mr. Richard Michel, the principal treasury officer with one of
the prime banks in Cote d’Ivoire. I have decided to contact you
through this medium based on a business proposal, which will be of
mutual benefit to both of us. I discovered your email through
comprehensive web email search on directory so I decided to contact
you. I know this might sound like scam to you because of the
activities going on in the internet today. But I assure you that this
is not a joke.

I am the account manager to one of our late client, from your
country, he worked with an oil servicing company here in Cote
d’Ivoire, the late client made a numbered time (fixed) deposited for
twelve calendar months, valued at €16,500,000.00 (Sixteen Million
Five Hundred Thousand European Euro) in my branch. Upon maturity, we
sent a routine notification to his forwarding address but got no
reply.

After a month, we sent a reminder and finally we discovered from his
contract employers, PETRO-CI Corporation that my client died from an
automobile accident. On further investigation, I found out that he did
not leave a will and all attempts to trace his next of kin were
fruitless. I therefore made further investigation and discovered that
the deceased person did not declare any next of kin in all his
official documents, including his bank deposit paperwork.

This sum of (€16,500,000.00) is still sitting in the bank and the
interest is rolled over with the principal sum at the end of each
year. No one will come forward to claim it. According to the law of
Cote d’Ivoire, at the expiration of 9{nine} years, the money will be
reverted to Cote d’Ivoire government if nobody claims it.

Consequently, my proposal is that I will like you as a foreigner to
stand in as the next of kin to deceased person for the fact that you
have same last name with him so that this money will not be reverted
by the government. If this request matches with your inward intention
for success and greatness, then you are urged to make a quick response
indicating your interest and readiness to participate and work with me
to make this successful.

Please observe utmost confidentiality, and be rest assured that this
transaction would be most profitable for both of us because I shall
require your assistance to invest my share in your country. In your
return mail, please do forward your information as listed below if you
are willing to complete this transaction with me, to enable me put the
total fund in your name for claim as the next of kin to the deceased
person:

Your full name:
Your contact address:
Your phone number:
Your age:

I wait for your urgent reply.

Regards,
Mr. Richard Michel.




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