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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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Fraud email example:

From: "DR.HASSAN BUBA" <hbuba@mail.com> (may be fake)
Reply-To: hassanbuba@mail2director.com
Date: Wed, 3 Nov 2004 16:50:02 +0000
Subject: Thanks.

FROM THE DESK OF DR.HASSAN BUBA.
BILL AND EXCHANGE DIRECTOR,
BANK OF AFRICA PLC.
DAKAR-SENEGAL.

Dear Friend,

I am the Director of Bill and Exchange at the Foreign Remittance Department of Bank of Africa PlC. I am writing following the impressive information about you through one of my friends who runs a consultancy firm. He assured me of your capability and reliability to champion this businees opportunity.

In my department we discovered an abandoned sum of $ 18.5m US dollars eighteen million, five hundred thousand US dollars) In an account that belongs to one of our foreign customer who died along with his entire family in a fatal plane crash in the year 2000. Since we got information
about his death, we have been expecting his next of kin to come over and claim his money because we cannot release it unless somebody applies for it as next of kin or relation to the deceased as indicated in our banking guidelines, but unfortunately we learnt that all his supposed next of kin or relation died alongside with him at the plane crash leaving nobody behind for the claim.

It is therefore upon this discovery that I and other officials in my department now decided to make this businness proposal to you and release the money to you as the next of kin or relation to the deceased for safety and subsequent disbursement since nobody is coming for it and we do not want this money to go into the Bank treasury as unclaimed Bill. The Banking law and guideline here stipulates that if such money remained unclamed after four years, the money will be transfered into the Bank treasury account as unclaimed fund.

The request of foreigner as next of kin in this business is occasioned by the fact that the customer was a foreigner and i can not stand as next of kin to a foreigner,it is also against our the banking law and guideline .We have agreed that 20 % of this money will be for you as foreign partner, in respect to the provision of a foreign account, 10 % will be set aside for expenses incured during the business and 70 % would be for me and my colleagues. There after I and my colleagues will visit your country for disbursement according to the percentages indicated.

Therefore to enable the immediate transfer of this fund to you as arranged,you must apply first to the bank as relations or next of kin of the deceased indicating your bank name, your bank account number, your private telephone and fax number for easy and effective communication and location where in the money will be remitted.

Upon receipt of your reply, I will send to you the text of the application. I will not fail to bring to your notice that this transaction is hitch free and that you should not entertain any atom of fear as all required arrangements have been made for the transfer .

You should contact me immediately as soon as you receive this letter.

Trusting to hear from you immediately.

DR.HASSAN BUBA .
BILL AND EXCHANGE DIRECTOR,
BANK OF AFRICA PLC.
DAKAR-SENEGAL.
TEL:00221 5190 100
EMAIL: hassanbuba@mail2director.com



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