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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: "Alan Bruce" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <alanbruceprivate@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Sun, 19 Apr 2015 02:45:08 +0100
Subject: Partner With Me

Hello;

I am Mr. Alan Bruce, Head of Accounts/Audits Department at L. F. S. Ltd., United Kingdom. I am contacting you concerning an investment placed under our management 7 years ago. I would respectfully request that you keep the contents of this mail confidential and respect the integrity of the information you come by as a result of this mail. I contact you independently of our investigation and emphasis the reason of this communication. I would like to intimate you with certain facts that I believe would be of interest to you.

In 2008, the subject matter; Mr. Andrea Schneider came to us to engage in business discussions with our private banking division. He informed us that he had a financial portfolio of $15,500.000.00 (Fifteen Million, Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars) which he wished to have us turn over (invest) on his behalf. I was the officer assigned to his case, I made numerous suggestions in line with my duties as the de-facto global head of the Offshore banking sector, especially given the volume of funds he wished to put into our management. We met on numerous occasions prior to any investments being placed.

I encouraged him to consider various growth funds with prime ratings. The favored route in my advice to customers is to start by assessing data on 6000 traditional stocks and bond managers and 2000 managers of alternative investments popularly known as hedge Funds. Based on my advice, we spun the money around various opportunities and made attractive margins for our first two months of operation, the accrued profit at this point stood at over $1,200.000.00 (One Million, Two Hundred Thousand United States Dollars), which he quickly withdrew off the investment deposit. This margin was not the full potential of the fund but he desired low risk guaranteed returns on investments.

In mid 2009, he asked that the money be liquidated because he needed to make an urgent investment requiring cash payments in Madrid. He directed that I liquidate the funds and had it deposited with a firm in Spain. I informed him that L. F. S. Ltd., would have to make special arrangements to have this done and in order not to circumvent due process, L. F. S. Ltd., would have to make a 2.5 % 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, he was more worried about the heavy taxation the European Union might impose and also to avoid dual taxation from European member countries. Cash movement across borders has become especially strict since the incidents of 9/11.

I had almost started the process of liquidating the funds as directed, but getting accross to him became a problem. This was an astounding position as far as I was concerned if you know what I mean. In Line with his instructions, Schneider told me he wanted the money there in anticipation of his arrival from Norway later that week. This was the last communication we had, this transpired around 27th September 2009 and I could not understand what happened to Schneider then. We made futile efforts to locate Schneider. I immediately passed the task of locating him to the internal investigations department of L. F. S. Ltd. Four days later, information started to trickle in, apparently Schneider was dead. A person who suited his description was declared dead of a heart attack in Norway. We were soon enough able to identify the body and cause of death was confirmed. L. F. S. Ltd., immediately launched an investigation into possible surviving next of kin to alert about the situatio!
n and also to come forward to clai

In the field of most investment, depositing funds 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. L. F. S. Ltd., also gives the choice to depositors of having their mail sent to them or held at the financial institution itself, ensuring that there are no traces of the account and as I said, rarely do they nominate next of kin. Offshore clients apart from not nominating next of kin also usually in most cases leave wills in our care, in this case; Schneider died intestate. In line with our internal processes for account holders who have passed away, we instituted our own investigations in good faith to determine who should have right to claim the estate.

This investigation has for the past months been unfruitful. We have scanned every continent and used our private investigation affiliate companies to get to the root of the problem. My official capacity dictates that my department supervises the eventual outcome of the investigation. My intention is to present you as the last batch of names we had considered, but the truth is that our dear late fellow died with no known or identifiable family member. This leaves you as the only person with the full picture of what the prevailing situation is in relation to the deposit and the late beneficiary of the deposit.

According to practice, by the end of the first quater of this year, L.F.S. Ltd., failing to receive viable claims they will most probably need the money. This will result in the money entering the L. F. S. Ltd., accounting system and the portfolio will be out of my hands. This will not happen if I have my way. What I wish to relate to you will smack of unethical practice but I want you to understand something. It is only an outsider to the banking world who finds the internal politics of the banking world aberrational.

The world of secret investment funds, it is fraught with huge rewards for those who occupy certain offices and oversee certain portfolios. You should have begun by now to put together the general direction of what I propose. I have the deposit details and they will release the deposit to no one unless under directives from my office. All outstanding interactions in relation to the file are just routine and due process. They are simply awaiting instructions to release the deposit to any party that comes forward as the beneficiary this is the situation. L. F. S. Ltd has spent great amounts of money trying to track this man’s family; they have investigated for years and have found no family. The investigation had been concluded and closed a while back not until my newest intentions.

My proposal:

I am prepared to place you in a position to instruct them to release the deposit to you as the closest surviving relation. I will be behind the scene to guide you on how to apply for the funds. Upon receipt of the deposit, I am prepared to share the money with you as the beneficiary that is: I will simply nominate you as the next of kin and have them release the deposit to you. You will get 30% of $15,500,000.00 (Fifteen Million, Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars) while I take 70%. I would have gone ahead to ask the funds be released to me, but that would have drawn a straight line to me and my involvement in claiming the deposit. I assure you that I could have the deposit released to you within a few days not later than 10 business days.

We can fine-tune this based on our interactions. I am aware of the consequences of this proposal. I ask that if you find no interest in this project that you should reconsider your position. I ask that you do not be too hasty to draw up conclusions as I have put in a lot of effort into this and your role will be only that of a benefactor. You may not know this but people like myself who have made tiny sums out of comparable situations run the whole investment funds sector and in my profession this is not an uncommon practice as one might think I do not find against good conscience, this may be hard for you to understand, but the dynamics of my industry dictates that I make this move.

Such opportunities only come ones way once in a lifetime. We should not let this chance pass us by, for once I find myself in total control of my destiny. I am a family man and this is an opportunity to provide them with new opportunities. There is a reward for this project and it is a task well worth undertaking. I have evaluated the risks and the risks on your side is barely minimal because hundreds of claims are filed everyday at the claims and deposits departments so it's not an unusual practice that may raise eye-brows I am the only one who knows of this situation, good fortune has blessed you with my contact to you that has planted you into the center of relevance in my life. Let’s share the blessings.

I do not particularly know you so I would wait on your response to judge your level of transparency and honesty. Need not think of you disappearing after the money get into your coffers. With a level of understanding between us, I will start the initiation of this process towards a conclusion. I do not want you contacting me through my official phone lines nor do I want you contacting me through my official email account as this transaction will be done under the clock of my employer. Contact will be through my personal numbers Tel: +44 705 383 5532 Fax: +44 843 564 2549 and also through this email address; private.alanbruce@yahoo.co.uk same could apply to you if you wish. My official lines are not secure lines as they are periodically monitored to assess our level of customer care in line with our Total Quality Management Policy. A very dear friend of mine and university classmate Mr. Michael Sodden of Bank of Ireland had to quit his job when unethical material was foun!
d on him.

Please observe this instruction religiously. Please again, note I am a family man, I have wife and children. I send you this mail not without a measure of doubt as to what the consequences, 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 learnt from my private banking clients.

Do not betray my confidence. If we can be of one accord, we should plan a meeting soon.

Sincerely,

Alan Bruce
L. F. S. Ltd. London, UK
Direct Tel: +44 705 383 5532
Direct Fax: +44 843 564 2549
Email: private.alanbruce@yahoo.co.uk

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