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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: "RICHARD SMITH" <richardsmith_03@msn.com>
Date: Wed, 08 Feb 2006 05:36:09 +0000
Subject: SOLICITING FOR YOUR ASSISTANCE.

FRESH FIELD BRUKHAUS DERINGER
INTERNATIONAL LAW FIRM
5TH FLOOR CANNON BRIDGE HOUSE
25 DOWGATE HILL LONDON
EC4R 2SB UNITED KINDOM.

DEAR FRIEND,

I AM RICHARD SMITH(ESQ),A CITIZEN OF UNITED KINGDOM,LONDON. WITH THE
FRESHFIELDS BRUKHAUS DERINGER INTERNATIONAL LAW FIRM. I HAVE A FOREIGN
CLIENT WHO DEPOSITED A SUM OF MONEY WITH A BANK IN NETHERLANDS, US$12.6M
(TWELVE MILLION, SIX HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS) TO BE PRECISE.HE LATER DIED
AS A RESULT OF PLANE CRASH IN 1999. SINCE THE DEATH OF MY CLIENT,NO ONE HAS
COME AS A BENEFICIARY CLAIM (NEXT OF KIN) TO HIS FUNDS AND ALL EFFORTS BY ME
IN LOCATING ANY OF HIS RELATIVES HAS NOT BEEN SUCCESSFUL.

THE BANK HAS OFFICIALLY NOTIFIED ME THAT FAILURE TO ACTIVATE THE
ACCOUNT ON OR BEFORE THE 21ST OF FEBRUARY 2006 BY MY CLIENT(DECEASED),HIS
FUNDS WILL BE CONFISCATED BY THE NETHERLANDS GOVERNMENT. IT IS ON THIS NOTE
THAT I AS HIS LEGAL REPRESENTATIVE DO REQUEST FOR AN ASSISTANCE FROM SOMEONE
TO CEDE AS A NEXT OF KIN (BENEFICIARY CLAIMANT) TO THIS FUNDS,AS I AM IN
POSSESION OF ALL RELEVANT DOCUMENTS TO THE FUNDS.

IT WILL INTEREST YOU TO KNOW THAT,30% OF THIS FUND WILL BE FOR YOU FOR
PROVIDING AN ACCOUNT FOR THE SWIFT TRANSFER OF THIS FUNDS,20% WILL BE FUND
TO ORPHANAGE HOME AS A GOD-FEARING MAN, WHILE THE BALANCE FUNDS WILL BE FOR
ME.UPON SUCCESSFUL TRANSFER OF FUNDS, I WILL PAY A VISIT TO YOUR COUNTRY FOR
FUNDS DISBURSEMENT.

I ASK THAT, IF YOU FIND NO INTEREST ABOUT THIS TRANSACTION, THAT YOU
SHOULD DISCARD THIS MAIL.I ASK THAT YOU DO NOT BE VINDICTIVE OR
DESTRUCTIVE,IF MY OFFER IS OF NO APPEAL TO YOU,DELETE THIS MESSAGE AND
FORGET I EVER CONTACTED YOU.DO NOT DESTROY MY CAREER BECAUSE YOU DO NOT
APPROVE OF MY PROPOSAL.THIS CHANCES WON'T PASS ME BY.I ASK THAT YOU DO NOT
DESTROY MY CHANCE,IF YOU WILL NOT WORK WITH ME LET ME KNOW AND LET ME ME
MOVE ON WITH MY LIFE BUT DO NOT DESTROY ME.I AM A FAMILY MAN AND THIS IS AN
OPPORTUNITY TO PROVIDE THEM WITH NEW OPPORTUNITIES.I HAVE EVALUATED ALL THE
RISKS AND THE ONLY RISK I HAVE HERE IS FROM YOU REFUSING TO WORK WITH ME
UPON A SUCCESSFUL TRANSFER OF THIS FUND.

UPON THE RECEIPT OF YOUR REPLY, I WILL SEND YOU BY FAX OR E-MAIL THE NEXT
STEP TO TAKE ONLY IF YOU GIVE ME POSITIVE SIGNALS ABOUT THIS OFFER.

I WILL NOT FAIL TO BRING TO YOUR NOTICE THAT THIS BUSINESS IS HITCH-FREE AND
THAT YOU SHOULD NOT ENTERTAIN ANY FEAR AS ALL REQUIRED ARRANGEMENT HAS BEEN
MADE FOR THE TRANSFER.

YOU SHOULD CONTACT ME IMMEDIATELY AS SOON AS YOU RECEIVE THIS EMAIL VIA MY
PRIVATE MAIL BOX AT:
RICHARDSMITH231@NETSCAPE.NET
TELL:+44-7031-846-394

TRUSTING TO HEAR FROM YOU SOONEST.
YOUR RESPECTFULLY
RICHARD SMITH(ESQ).


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