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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: "Andres Law Firm" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <barr_phillipssmith@live.com>
Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2016 10:24:47 -0000
Subject: WHY DO YOU DECIDES TO CHANGE YOUR IDENTITY?

Dear Sir/Madam,
 
PAYMENT NOTICE
 
Good day, Below I am going to share some information and details about the transaction for your perusal. If you have any question(s) about the information contained herein, please do not hesitate to keep me posted.
 
As a result of petitions and counter petitions by foreign BENEFICIARIES/CONTRACTORS/WINNERS over non-payment of their fund/claims, our great firm (Andres Law Firm) has been appointed to look into all overdue payments yet to be released for verification, vetting and immediate payment. This is also in line with petition by Beneficiaries/contractors on staff of Banks in Africa, Europe and other parts of the world of collecting funds from you without transferring your funds/money (Fraud).
 
It is not my intention to demand any fees from you in respect of this business proposal rather all I need from you is your honesty and confidentiality of the proposal because business flourish when both parties thrive with “Honesty, Trust and Truthfulness”. My professional ethics as a lawyer also demand me to handle business proposals with the highest level of confidence and confidentiality and I demand such from your person too. But we will also agree on a percentage (%) you will offer to me as my share once the money/funds hit your nominated account
 
Our chamber was contracted to handle the release of your Inheritance Fund with Citi Bank New York and from our investigations; we need an answer from the below questions;
 
1)        Did you broker your fund to one Mr. Pieterse Johannes Lodewyk from South Africa?
2)        He claimed to be your business associates and that you are hospitalized?
 
He sent his bank details as follows;
South African Reserve Bank,
Address: 57 Ntemi Piliso St, Johannesburg, 2001, South Africa
Account Beneficiary...... Pieterse Johannes Lodewyk
A/C number.........0670 O39 870
ROUTING:.......... 122000494
SWIFT CODE... SARB33JPK
 
Should I send you his National Id card and passport that he sent to me as means of identification, so that you can check if by any means know him?. If you do not broker such agreement with him, kindly get back to me urgently so that I would send you the Bank Processing Form and Letter of agreement from our chamber so that you can sign and return it back to us to enable us file at the Bank for the release of the fund in your favor.
 
All I need from you right now is your consent to execute this business proposal with me, so that I can forward your details to the Bank.
 
Best Regards,       
Barrister Phillip Smith Andres Esq
(Andres Law Firm)
Tel/Fax: +1 646 607 1449

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