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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: "Donald Morgan" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <paulsmith1ca@globomail.com>
Date: Mon, 13 Sep 2010 18:05:24 -0400
Subject: RE: PRIVATE REQUEST.

Donald Morgan.
TEL: 1-(416)-477-3734.


Good Day to you.

My name is Donald Morgan from the Bahamas. I was formerly employed as an investment banker with an offshore Bank in the Bahamas. A former colleague of mine, who is now a senior Accounts Manager with the bank delegated me to contact you with regards to an American client of the bank named James Burton. James Burton opened an account with the bank in June 2001. The last activity on this account dates back to April 24, 2006. But on May 5, 2006, there were some unusual activities on this account which raised a red flag and serious room for suspicion. There were series of withdrawals made from the account via written instructions with checks but there were no checks issued to the account holder for the account, all withdrawals made by the account holder James Burton were designed to be made either online or by written instructions which must be backed up by a phone call to the bank 24 hours after the withdrawal to authenticate the withdrawals but that did not happen at this time.
There was absolutely no phone ca

I am quite aware that you may feel somewhat uncomfortable, apprehensive about this letter, and unsure as to why we contacted you. The reason I have contacted you is because the financial laws of the Bahamas states that all banks are required to report and transfer bank accounts that have remained dormant for over four (4) years to the Bureau of Public Trust as unclaimed and abandoned funds. My former colleague and his partner who have asked me to contact you are senior officers in the bank, and they are very familiar with the process of claiming abandoned funds of this nature. If you accept to receive this money, my partners are very confident that with your cooperation, this account with a current balance of $15.7 Million will be ours for good. My partners are in a position to make the payment of this account possible, provided you can give us guarantee that our interest will be well secured. They will prepare documents to show that you are the TRUSTEE AND CUSTODIAN to the f
unds in event of the death or los

I will appreciate your timely response through my private email above. Call me to acknowledge the receipt of this letter so that I can provide you with detailed clarification about this project. Please indicate a private cell phone or telephone number where you can be reached.

Sincerely Yours,

Donald Morgan.

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