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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: "Richard Momoh" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <ifirstbank986@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 13 Mar 2015 22:27:35 +0100
Subject: KINDLY REPLY

Dear Sir/Madam,
Good day and compliments. I am contacting you based on a business proposal that I know will benefit both you and I. I am Mr Richmond Momoh. I am the personal accounts officer to one late Mr Erickson Brandon, a native of United States of America. He lived in Nigeria together with his family.
 
Until his death, Mr Ericsson Brandon was a federal contractor to Nigeria national petroleum company (NNPC) and supplied most of the fittings used to upgrade our country's international air-ports. I personally handled all his financial transactions and legal matters which made him leave most of this vital payment documents under my care because of how close we were and the trust and confidence he had on me. Mr Erickson was a hard working man but was unfortunate as him and his entire family was wiped out in Dana air crash that happened last 3 years and this I have not disclosed to my bank or any person till date. Before the untimely death of Mr Erickson, he made a supply of oil tools to the NNPC which amount to $200,000,000 (Two hundred million US dollars). The money was paid and he deposited the entire sum with my bank on 2 years time period. Now as his personal accounts officer, the the 2 year maturity period has now expired and my bank is trying to reach him or any of his r elatives so that they will pay thi
 
Now to cut the whole story short, I want to present you as Mr Erickson's next of kin so that this money will be paid to you while we share the money in 2 equal half's. I want to assure you that I have the duplicate deposit certificate of this money and all I want is a sincere person who will not run away or disappear with the whole money when it is paid into his account because the money will be paid into a foreign account which should be yours, I will come to your country immediately the money is transferred into your account for sharing.
 
I will personally hire a registered attorney to handle all the legal documents and notaries. Now why I am contacting you is based o these two facts:
(a) I need a foreign person to present as the next of kin as he will also bring his account for the money to be paid in.
(b) Because I cannot finance to pay for the documents alone hence why I need you so that we share the expenses equally.
 
The only challenge we have here is money to raise original DEPOSIT CERTIFICATE, CONTRACT APPROVAL AND AWARD CERTIFICATE FROM NNPC AND JOB COMPLETION ORDER. These will be attached with a POWER OF ATTORNEY FROM A REGISTERED SENIOR ADVOCATE OF NIGERIA which shall be stamped and sealed at the federal high court, Abuja.
 
Be assured that the process is so easy and takes less time. what I need is someone who will support financialy to gather the documents so that this fund will be transfered into your account. The money that I seek will be used for validation of documents and signing of relevant payment receipts but most especially to acquire these 4 vital documents (original DEPOSIT CERTIFICATE, CONTRACT APPROVAL AND AWARD CERTIFICATE FROM NNPC AND JOB COMPLETION ORDER) all these documents will have you as his only next of kin to make it authentic and official. Note I will be a silent partner but will also contribute financially for these.
 
I would not have done this if there if I have seen any of Mr Erickson Brandon family to claim the money but as it is right now if I leave it or make my bank to know that he is dead and none of his family member is around, some few managers will sit together and share the money within themselves. This is not the first time I have seen it happen, so it is better for me to have it than to allow them share the money and continue growing bigger
 
I cannot move the money in my name because he was my client and it could create suspicion hence the importance of your assistance. Have my assurance that there is nothing to fear about, as I also need your assurance that you would work with me with a high degree of honesty and sincerity to achieve our desired objective. The legal procedure is no problem for I would be responsible.
 
Since the codicil was not ready before his death, a letter of administration without WILL would be secured from the probate office. With this letter I would personally apply on your behalf to the bank for the release of the funds to you. Below is required from you to enable
us achieve the above;
1. YOUR NAME
2. ADDRESS
3. CONTACT PHONE NUMBER
4. DATE OF BIRTH AND AGE
5. OCCUPATION
6. WORK ADDRESS AND PHONE NUMBER
6. SCANNED COPY OF YOUR DRIVERS LICENSE.
 
I will highlight you with the remaining details and way forward on hearing from you and will furnish you with the whole information you need to know about this transaction on your reply.
 
Yours faithfully,
Mr Richmond Momoh

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