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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: "Murphy Witzman"
Reply-To: <c.heyenw@yahoo.com.ph>
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 2015 17:57:18 -0500
Subject: Kind Regards.

Murphy A. Witzman & Associates.

Dearest,

Before I proceed I must first apologize for this unsolicited mail to you, I am aware that this is certainly not a conventional way of approach to establish a relationship of trust,

I am Murphy Witzman; I am the Personal Attorney to Engr.Thomas Crawford. Who used to work with Agip Oil Company in Nigeria as a foreign expert? On the 20th May 2009, he and his wife including their three children were involved in a car accident along Lokoja Express way.

Unfortunately, they all lost their lives in the event of the accident. Since then I have made several inquiries at the Embassy to locate any of my client’s relatives, which has been unsuccessful.

After several unsuccessful attempts, I decided to trace his relatives over the Internet to locate any member of his family but to no avail, hence, I contacted you to assist in repatriating the money left behind by my client in a Bank.

Moreover, the Finance House (BANK), where the deceased deposited the sum of US$17 Million (seventeen Million United States Dollars only), have a good knowledge of my professional relationship between me and Mr.Crawford. They ask me to present someone to claim the fund left by my late client as they know me as his personal attorney.

Base on this development, the Bank has issued me a notice to provide the Next of Kin to claim the US$17 Million (seventeen Million United States Dollars only), in their custody within the next ten official working days.

Since I have been unsuccessful in locating the relatives, I seek your consent to present you as the next of kin of the deceased to claim the fund as the Next of Kin to him so that the fund will be transferred to your account by the Bank.

Upon receipt of the fund, I will come over to your country to meet with you for the disbursement of the fund and then you and I will share the money in this order: 60% will be for me, 40% will be for you. I have all the necessary legal documents that can back our claim we may make with the Bank.

All I require is your honest co-operation to enable us see this deal through. I guarantee that this will be executed under a legitimate arrangement that will protect you from any breach of the law.

Please get in touch with me through my alternative email address: ( wzmurphy88@gmail.com ) for further details.

Yours Sincerely.

Murphy A. Witzman (Esq).

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