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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.

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Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: "Mr. Johnson cole" <mr.johnsoncole@yahoo.pt>
Date: Sat, 17 Jan 2015 15:43:20 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: Business Proposal


Dear Sir/Madam,                                    I am writing to seek your cooperation over this business proposal.First I must solicit your confidence in this transaction; this is by virtue ofits nature as being utterly confidential and top secret. ThoughI know that a transaction of this magnitude will make any one apprehensive andworried, but I am assuring you that all will be well at the end of the day. Letme start by introducing myself properly to you. I am Mr. Johnson Cole, anaccount manager with Clydesdale Bank international United Kingdom. I came toknow you in my Private Search for a Reliable and Reputable Person to handlethis Confidential Transaction, which involves the transfer of huge sum of Moneyto a Foreign Account requiring Maximum Confidence. In my department, i discovered an abandoned sum of £5million (FIVEMILLION BRITISH POUND) Only, in an account that belongs to one of our foreigncustomers who died along with his entire family in a plane crash that tookplace in Kenya, East Africa, the bank now expects a next of kin as beneficiary.Valuable efforts are being made by the Bank to get in touch with any of theBromley’s remaining family or relatives but all to no success. The Late DR.GEORGE BROMLEY is a known Philanthropist in Africa and U.SA. Since wegot information about his death, we have been expecting his next of kin to comeover and claim his money because it cannot be released unless somebody appliesfor it as next of kin or business associate to the deceased as indicated in ourbanking guidelines but unfortunately all his supposed next of kin diedalongside with him at the plane crash leaving nobody behind for the claim. It istherefore upon this discovery that I now decided to make this business proposalto you and release the funds to you via your foreign bank account by standingas the next of kin/ Business associate to the deceased for safety andsubsequent disbursement. The Banking law and guideline here stipulates that ifsuch money remained unclaimed after fourteen years, the money will betransferred into the HM treasury account as unclaimed fund. Thesharing of the fund is thus: 40% for you the account owner, 50% for me and theremaining 10% for expenses for both parties. If this proposal is acceptable byyou, do not make undue advantage of the trust i have bestowed in you. On yourinterest, kindly respond with your details, such as: 1. Your Full Names: 2. Cell Phone Numbers: 3. Fax Numbers: 4. PostalAddress: 5. Occupation and 6. Date of birth. Replyto my private email: jhnson.cole@jmail.co.za and mine as well shall besent to you for you to know whom you are dealing with. Best regards,Mr. Johnson ColeE-mail: jhnson.cole@jmail.co.za

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