419 scam: "Mr. Peter Marcus" <mrpetersmarcus@zurichcentralbank.com> My name is Peter Marcus Ramon,

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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:

An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
This email uses a separate reply address that is different from the sender address. Spammers use this to get replies even when the original spam sending accounts have been shut down. Also, sometimes the sender addresses are legitimate looking but fake and only the reply address is actually an email account controlled by the scammers.
The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "million united states dollars" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "abidjan" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
This email message is a next of kin scam.
This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- mrpetersmarcus@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "Mr. Peter Marcus" <mrpetersmarcus@zurichcentralbank.com>
Reply-To: mrpetersmarcus@gmail.com
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 2020 20:09:41 +0100
Subject: My name is Peter Marcus Ramon,

Good day
My name is Peter Marcus Ramon,
I work with one of the Banks here in abidjan cote d' lvoire. I am the
personal accounts manager to one Engr. Norman.R.Frank , a National of U.S.A
from new york, who owned a construction company here in Ivory Coast (Cote
D'Ivoire)norman construction company my client, his wife, and their three
children were involved in the Airways crash in which all passengers on
board died.Since the death of my customer,

I have made several inquiries to his embassy to loca
te any of my clients extended relatives but has been unsuccessful. After
several unsuccessful attempts, I decided to contact you

my late customer, deposit with our bank US$5 million United States
dollars. Being the personal a/c manager of the deceased's account, the
bank has issued me a notice to provide the next of kin/beneficiary or else
the bank will declear the account unserviceable and thereby forfeit the
funds to the bank treasury.

Since I have been unsuccessful in locating the relatives for over the past
2 years now,I hereby seek your consent (with due respect and honour) to
present you as the next of kin to the deceased so that the proceeds of
this account can be paid to you and then you and I will share the money 50
/ 50.All .I require is your honest cooperation to enable us seeing this
deal throw However, I urgently need you the following information from you
which I have to place in the computer file of the deceased as next of
kin/beneficiary:

(A) your full name,
(B) your date of birth
(C) resident address together with your telephone and fax for easy
communication
I guarantee that this will be executed under all legitimate arrangement
that will protect you from any breach of the law. Need you be interest,
kindly reach me via my private email; mrpetersmarcus@gmail.com
as indicated above for further details. Thanks in advance as I anticipate
your maximum
co-operation in this regards.
Mr Peter

Anti-fraud resources:

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