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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: "Roy QUENTIN" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <rquentin2002@hotmail.com>
Date: Sun, 27 Sep 2015 15:50:29 +0200
Subject: Respond please okay..

Roy Quentin,
Banque Domicile Du Benin,
BP 229 - Porto-Novo,
Benin Republic.

Hello,

I am writing to seek your partnership in an urgent business opportunity. I work for Banque Domicile Du Benin - Porto-Novo, Benin Republic. Currently, I am in charge of bills and exchange in the international remittance department. I was the account's officer of a certain Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Bolduc's, who worked with Chevron Oil company, but both died in the December 25, 2003 air crash here in Benin Republic.

Mr. Bolduc had a total sum of nine hundred and twenty five thousand (925,000) US Dollars in his domiciliary account. Since the management got the news of his tragic death, they have been expecting his next of kin to come up and claim the funds. Sadly, from the time of his death till the time of this letter, nobody has shown up.

The banking and financial laws of inheritance of Banque Domicile Du Benin, stipulate that if such funds remained unclaimed after a period of 144 Months, it will be forfeited to the bank as "unclaimed deposit". This means that the deadline expires December 25 of this year. I will soon proceed on retirement, and I personally do not want the funds to be lost to the bank. This is why I took to the internet to search for assistance. I found your email address through random internet searches. I would like for you to partner with me so that the money can be released to you.

The need for a foreigner as a next of kin in this project is necessitated by the fact that the deceased was a foreigner and a Beninese will not perfectly fit as the next of kin or heir. This is why I am contacting you. Please note that it does not really matter whether or not you are truly related to the deceased. There is never going to be any background check or investigation whatsoever. Consider that a top secret from an insider. Also, note that you are not to appear in person and as such, there is absolutely no risk involved.

As soon as I receive your response indicating your interest and full assurance that you will peacefully forward my share of the money after it must have been wired to your bank account, I will email you with a copy of the inheritance release request form and the details of deceased. All you have to do is correctly fill out the application form and email it to the international remittance director of the bank for onward processing, approval and transfer of the funds to your bank account. Just so you know, you are free to open a new bank account specially for the purpose of this transaction if you want to.

For your assistance, I am willing to let you keep 45% of the total amount, while I get 50%. The remaining 5% will be set aside for minor expenses that may incur. As soon as the fund is wired to your bank account, I may visit you in your country to collect my share, or simply provide you with a bank account to wire it to me. I am waiting to hear back from you soon. Thank you very much.

Regards,
Roy.

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