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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: Universal Merchant Bank <ferrotall@ferrotall.com>
Reply-To: mr.johnawuah19@gmail.com
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 2015 08:44:27 +0000
Subject: Mail From Universal Merchant Bank


Hi,
My name is Mr.John Awuah. I am Chief Executive Officer of Universal
Merchant Bank Ghana Ltd.
Please permit me to make your acquaintance in an informal manner. This
is necessitated by my urgent need to reach a dependable and
trustworthy foreign partner.This request may seem strange and
unsolicited but i will crave your indulgence and pray that you view it
seriously.
Like i have stated above, i am the Chief Executive Officer of
Universal Merchant Bank Ghana Ltd.I am writing following an
opportunity in my office that will be of imense benefit to both of us
though i know that you are already made.

I discovered an abandoned huge sums of money worth millions dollars
belong to the late vandenhende johannes rudolphus, former director of
halliburton ghana Ghana who die in July 19, 2014 - Malaysia Airlines
MH17 that Crashes in Ukraine kill all the 298 passengers on board.The
late vandenhende johannes rudolphus and his wife and their three
children were on their way back to their home in Australia after a
month’s holiday in the Netherlands berfore the Airlines MH17 Crashes
in Ukraine.

Since we got information about his death, we have been expecting his
next of kin or relatives to come over and claim his money because the
Bank cannot release the funds unless somebody applies for it as next
of kin or a relation to the deceased as indicated in our banking
guidelines. Unfortunately i learnt that his supposed next of kin being
his three children died along with him in the plane crash leaving
nobody with the knowledge of this fund to claim.It is therefore upon
this discovery that I and two other officials in the bank now decided
to do business with you and release the money to you as the next of
kin or beneficiary of the funds for safe keeping and subsequent
disbursement since nobody is coming for it and we don't want this
money to go back into Government treasury as unclaimed bill.We agreed
that 28% of this money will be for you as the supposed next of kin,
while 7% out of the total sum is set aside for any expenses both party
will incur during the completion of the project and remaining balance
of 75% that will be for me and my colleagues will be used to invest in
any lucrative investments that you will introduce us in your country.
Please be honest with me and trust should be our watchword in this
project.

Note that this transaction is highly confidential and 100% risk
free.On receipt of this mail, please contact me by return mail if you
are willing to enter into this deal with me. In the event you are not
interested, I sincerely ask that you disregard this email and tell no
one about it. I am very careful not to truncate my banking career
should you mention this to someone else that might blow the lid. I
hope you can be trusted in this regard.Have a pleasant working day

Best Wish
Mr. John Awuah
Chief Executive Officer
Universal Merchant Bank

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