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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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Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: "Mark Ospel" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <markospel002@e-mail.ua>
Date: Tue, 23 Aug 2011 19:38:29 +0300
Subject: VERY IMPORTANT


>From Bank UBS AG Switzerland
Postfach 8098 Z?rich
Switzerland.
Swiss Clearing Number: 230
Postal Account: 80-2-2
SWIFT: UBSW CH ZH 80A
Web site: www.ubs.com

Hello.

I am aware that this is an unconventional way of relaying an important message such as this. I did try without success to locate both your contact address or phone/fax number and as such, I resorted in contacting you via email. I am Mr. David Ospel an investment consultant working with Bank UBS AG Zurich presently at their offshore department. I will be happy to work this deal out with you if you have a corporate or personal Bank Account and if you are capable of keeping TOP SECRET.

During one of our periodic auditing I discovered a dormant accounts with holding balances of US$355,000.000.00 {Three fifty five million United State Dollars only} Sometimes a person will open a bank account, deposit money, and then disappear into the tin air. Banks are not always able to find out what has become of these silent customers, or to know whether they should follow up on requests from people who claim to be heirs to the accounts. The main problem is that the customer resides abroad and, due to bank secrecy, the bank cannot publish notices in the international press to locate the depositories. This has led the majority of Swiss banks to refrain from opening small-deposit accounts for foreign customers; for fear that they will forget that the account exists.

It has happened in the past, however, that customers pass away and their heirs can neither prove the death, nor their heir ship. This was a frequent occurrence during the wartime periods, and the banks have now set up a simple, rapid resolution procedure operating to their customersÂ’ advantage. Dormant assets are defined as any assets deposited with a bank (i.e. an account, a custody account or a safety-deposit box) for which there has been no contact with the customer in the bankÂ’s files for the last ten years or more. If you believe you have claim to a Swiss bank account for which the holder (e.g. an ancestor) has not been in contact with the bank for over ten years, there is a fairly simple procedure to follow, depending on the date the account was opened.
This account has not been operated for the past years. As at this moment, I am constrained to issue more details about this business until your response is received. If you are not familiar with Swiss Dormant Accounts and profile, please take a moment of your very busy schedules to read about Swiss dormant accounts:

website; www.crt-ii.org/2001_list/publication_list1_A.phtm

If you know that you are capable to handle large or small amount on trust and can keep secret and ready to take 40% of any amount I transfer to your account from the dormant accounts and I will take 60%, then get back to me immediately with your details by return mail. Tell me more about yourself, while I look forward to receive the above information.

I want to re-assure you that this business is risk free and you can send an empty account to receive the funds, provided that the account is capable to receive incoming funds, the transaction will be executed under a legitimate arrangement that will protect us from any breach of the law.

Send also your private mobile phone number where I can reach you now.

Thank you for your time and attention.

Warmest regards,
Mr. Mark Ospel.

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