419 scam: "Iyke Iheonye"<liz> Dear Friend,

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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:

This email uses a separate reply address that is different from the sender address. Spammers use this to get replies even when the original spam sending accounts have been shut down. Also, sometimes the sender addresses are legitimate looking but fake and only the reply address is actually an email account controlled by the scammers.
The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "necessary legal documents" (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
This email message is a next of kin scam.

Fraud email example:

From: "Iyke Iheonye" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <iheonyei@yahoo.com.hk>
Date: Wed, 3 Jul 2013 15:13:08 +0800
Subject: Dear Friend,

Dear Friend,

I am Iyke Iheonye,the Head of Accounting Audit Department of ZENITH BANK PLC. I am writing you about a business proposal that will be of an immense mutual benefit to both of us. In my department, I discovered a sum of $22.5 Million (Twenty Two Million five hundred thousand dollars)) in an account that belongs to one of our foreign deceased customers, a German property magnate Andreas Schranner, 64, his wife Maria, 62, their daughter Andrea Eich, 38, her husband Christian, 57, and their children Katharina,8, and Maximilian, 10, all perished in the jet.

For more information about the crash you can visit this site: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/859479.stm

The choice of contacting you is aroused from the geographical nature of where you live, particularly due to the sensitivity of the transaction and the confidentiality herein. Now our bank has been waiting for any of the relatives to come-up for the claim but nobody has done that. I personally have been unsuccessful in locating the relatives, I seek your consent to present you as the next of kin/Will Beneficiary to the deceased so that the proceeds of this account valued at $22.5 Million five hundred thousand dollars can be paid to you.

This will be disbursed or shared in these percentages, 60% to me and 40% to you. I have secured all necessary legal documents that can be used to back up this claim we are making. All i need is to fill in your names to the documents and legalize them in the court here to prove you as the legitimate beneficiary. All I require now is your honest Co-operation, Confidentiality and Trust to enable us see this transaction through. I guarantee you that this will be executed under a legitimate arrangement that will protect you from any breach of the law.

Please, provide me the following information, as we have 7 days to run it through. This is very URGENT PLEASE.

1. Full Name:

2. Your: Telephone Number:

3. Your Contact Address:

4. Age:

5. Core Job/ Occupation:

Having gone through a methodical search, I decided to contact you hoping that you will find this proposal interesting. Please on your confirmation of this message and indicating your interest, i will furnish you with more information.

Endeavour to let me know your decision rather than keep me waiting.

Best regards,

Iyke Iheonye.

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