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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: "John Walter" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <johnwalt779@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 14 Feb 2023 13:38:04 -0800
Subject: {From: John Walter ...}

Hello,

This email is strictly confidential and if received and it does not please you, kindly delete it and speak to nobody about it please to avoid any form of third party interference.

Please for further review and proof about it kindly click on the BBC News website below and read carefully to confirm every history about the death of Mr. John Shumejda.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/1742404.stm

My name is Mr. John Walter, I work with The National Audit Office in London and I was formerly the personal account officer to the late Mr. John Shumejda who died in a plane crash in the year 2002 when a private jet crashed during take-off from Birmingham Airport. I had a private meeting with My late client the same day before the crash and this gentleman had plans of investing over GBP Ten Million Great British Pounds sterling into some venture in Dubai and making me the manager of that venture upon my retirement in some month's time.

Mr. John Shumejda is a very close friend and big client; we believe so much in him and what I advise him. I was shocked and I almost died when I heard of his sudden death after some hours both of us spoke together.

A few months ago, I received a MEMO from my former bank as his account officer where I was told that since the death of Mr. John Shumejda in 2002, no one has ever come forth as his next of kin to make an inquiry about his deposit with the Bank, therefore, I have been mandated to search for his next of kin and present to the bank between now and end of this month otherwise his deposited funds will be cancelled and send to the UK Government Treasury Account for confiscation and all effort to locate any of his family members has proven unfruitful.

Furthermore, as far as I know, Mr. Shumejda has no next of kin because he has no children and his wife also died a few years after the death of her husband because she could not bear the pains.

Therefore, I am contacting you to stand as my foreign partner to lay claim as next of kin to late Mr. John Shumejda so that the bank can release his deposit amounting to the sum of GBP £ 55,780,000.00 [Fifty Five Million, Seven Hundred and Eighty Thousand Great British Pounds Sterling] in your favour.

Please note that upon the release of the funds into your bank account, we shall share the total sum via the following ratio 45% for you as my trusted partner, 55% for me as the initiator and founder of the deal and I want to assure you that this transaction is 100% hitch-free as everything will be done within the ambit of the law.

Kindly note that all you need to do is to follow my instructions as I am going to present you before the bank management and whoever I present will be accepted as the next of kin and funds released in line with the law.

Kindly get back to me swiftly for us to proceed because the timeline given to me by the bank is almost up and I cannot let them confiscate the account as I was told that once I fail to provide his next of kin, the Bank will return the fund to the national treasury.

I believe that this is my chance and a great opportunity to make the most of what life has given to me and whoever will stand as next of kin to claim the funds and as i stated above, do not reply to me if you have no intention to follow me through with this transaction.

I had to make a trip to convince everyone attached to this transaction that I had gone in search of the next of kin to Mr. John Shumejda so do not betray my confidence.

Your urgent response is needed with your details to enable us to proceed.

Yours faithfully.

John Walter

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