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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: John Scott <scottj015@yahoo.pt>
Reply-To: John Scott <scott.john06@yahoo.com>
Date: Thu, 27 Nov 2014 06:34:49 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: URGENT



Hello!
                                             GOOD NEWS                                   .......................................................................................

My Name is Mr. John Scott William, I work with a private Bank here in London UK. I want to introduce and negotiate with you a business  opportunity that exist in my office that will be of great benefit us all. Thus I wish to transfer the sum of £75, Million Pounds from a dormant Bank account here. Thus I would like to explain more to you on how this  large amount of fund originates.
I am a consulting auditor attached with a private Bank, I carry out various banking Services with the bank. I am contacting you independently concerning the outcome of our internal audit investigation which no other one has been informed of this communication and I have decided to intimate you with certain facts that I believe would be of interest to  you.
I am contacting you concerning a customer of the bank who had  an investment placed under the banks management 13 years ago.  On May 22/1999. He is an American accountant/consultant on Oil  matters of Saudi Arabia, Late Eng Micheal David Woodson 65 years old then, he made an investment deposit valued at £52.2  Million Pounds in this bank, which he wished to have us turn over on his behalf.
I was the officer assigned to his case; I made numerous  suggestions in line with my duties as the de-facto chief  operations officer and a consulting investment auditor of the  Private Banking Services Department, especially given the  volume of funds he wished to put into our bank. We met on  numerous occasions prior to any investments being placed. I  encouraged him to consider various growth funds with prime  ratings.
The favoured route in my advice to customers is to start by  assessing data on 600 traditional stocks and bonds managers  and alternative investments. Based on my advice, we spun the  money around various opportunities and made attractive  margins for our first year of operation, the accrued profit  and interest stood at this point at over £65.5 Million, this  margin was not the full potential of the fund but he desired  low risk guaranteed returns on investments.
In August 2001, he asked that the money be liquidated because  he needed to make an urgent investment requiring cash  payments in Europe. He directed that I liquidate the funds  and had it deposited with HANDELSBANKEN, a top Swedish bank. I  informed him that our bank would have to make special  arrangements to have this done and in order not to circumvent  due process, the bank would have to make a 9.5% deduction from  the funds to cater for banking and statutory charges. He  complained about the charges but later came around when I  explained to him the complexities of the task he was asking  of us.
I contacted my affiliate in Sweden, however, the exercise was  not carried out due to the complex nature of the task and  having been instructed again to stop further proceeding, in line with his instructions the transfer was stopped.He told  me he would use the money thereafter upon his return from  America later that week. This was the last communication we  had, this transpired around Jun 5, 2003, Four days  later, information started to trickle in, that he died in a plane crash.
On hearing about this information, 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 deposit. In his bio-data form, he listed no next of  kin. In the field of private banking, opening an account 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.
As things stands now, there is £75, Million Pounds as value  for his investment. The bank has no single idea of what's the  history or nature of the deposit. They are simply awaiting  instructions to release the deposit to any party that comes  forward. This is the situation. This bank has spent great  amounts of money trying to track this man's family; they have  investigated for 10 Months now and have found no known  relative. The investigation has already come to an end.
I am prepared to place you in a position and instruct the  bank 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 and no more. That is, we share the proceeds  70% for me and 30% for you. We can fine-tune this based on our interactions and with my position/affiliate in the  bank, we can get things done in a smooth way. There is a reward  for this project and it is a task well worth undertaking. I  will like to invest 50% of my shear in your Country with your  help/idea.
I have evaluated the risks and the only risk I have here is  from you refusing to work with me and alerting the bank. I  send you this mail not without a measure of fear as to what  the consequences might be, 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.
So you should urgently get back to me to discuss this further, if you know you will be capable of handling this risk free transaction. Send me your personal telephone numbers for easy communications.
Please email me back on this  mail address: ( scott.john01@yahoo.co.uk )
I wait to hear from you ASAP.
Regards,
Mr. John Scott William.


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