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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: "K. Taylor" (may be fake)
Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2018 16:38:05 -0700
Subject: I will appreciate your reply

Hello,
 
I am getting in touch with you regarding a client with an investment placed under our bank management
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 contacted you independently and no one
is informed of this communication. In 2010, the subject matter, Mr. Roland Murry of  Australia made a
deposit of $15,500,000.00 dollars in my branch, a number of notices was sent to him two years later for not
operating the account and we later discovered that Mr. Roland Murry  had died of kidney diseases.
The good thing is that late Mr. Roland Murry  did not declare any next of kin in his official papers including
the paper work of his bank deposit. What bothers me most is according to the laws of my country at the
expiration of 10 years the funds will be revert to the ownership of the Ghana Government if nobody comes
for the funds, Against this scenery, I have all the information needed to claim these funds and I want you
to act as the next of kin to the deposit. There is no risk involved in this matter as I hold the key to the funds
and we are going to adopt a legitimate method as I have all paper works to make you the next of kin to the
funds. I want you to know that you will be entitled to 40% of the entire funds while I get 60% as the
originator of the deal. 
All I require is your honest co-operation and I guarantee that this will be executed under a legitimate
arrangement that will not jorpadise my job. Please accept my apologies and keep my confidence.
 
I wait for your reply,
Mr. Albert Taylor

Anti-fraud resources: