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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: "Franklyn Ogala" <frankgala@zenithlawfirm.com>
Reply-To: frankgala_01@bizhat.com
Date: Sun, 27 Nov 2005 17:20:56 +0000
Subject: Attn: Business Trust/Proposal


Dear Friend,

I sincerely apologize for intruding into your privacy especially by
contacting you through this means. It is due to its seriousness and urgency
it therefore became necesary for me to seek your assistance.

I am Franklyn Ogala, the personal lawyer to Late Mr. Gabriel Gibson, who
worked with an Oil Servicing Company. I am contacting you concerning my late
client and an investment he made. I would respectfully request that you keep
the contents of this mail confidential.

On Sunday 30 Jan 2000 my client passed away in an aircrash involving a Kenya
airways flight with registration number 5Y-BEN. I refer you to thislink for
further information regarding the crash:
http://www.bea-fr.org/docspa/2000/5y-n000130a/htm/5y-n000130a.html
Until his death, the deceased had a Fixed Deposit Account totalling USD $5.5
Million in a bank. Recently, the bank issued me a notice to inform the
deceased relative about this investment so that the money would be given to
them failure which the account would be confisticated. But

unfortunately I discovered that my late client did not declare anybody as
his next of kin. This discovery leaves me as the only person with the full
picture of what the prevailing situation is in relation to the deposit my
late client made. I have made several efforts to trace the relatives of my
late client and all my efforts yielded no positive result.

Since I have been unsuccessful in locating the relatives of my late client,
my proposal, therefore, is to present you as my client's next of kin. You
can easily Act As my client's Next of Kin/Relative because you are a not a
national of my country. I know you will be wondering how possible this
could be but I assure you that this is simple.

I will include your name in the documents with me as this will prove that
the deceased had recognised you as his next of kin. This will enable you to
apply officially for the funds. I will get all the documents that would
legally confer on you the status to act as the Beneficiary of the Estate of
my late client after which the money would be transferred to you for us to
share in this formular: 50% for me, 40% for you and 10% would be used to
settle all expnses we might incur during the course of this transaction.

All I require is your honest co-operation to enable us see this through.
Everything would be done legally and my position as the deceased attorney
would add credence to the claim. I guarantee that this will be executed
under a legitimate arrangement.

If you are interested in doing this transaction with me kindly send your
reply.

Best Regards,

Franklyn Ogala.


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