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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: "Mr. Williams Eke." (may be fake)
Reply-To: <williamseke121@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 7 Dec 2017 23:30:51 -0800
Subject: Re, Good New.

Attn :Sir/Madam.
I believed my letter will meet you in good health and your finest mood ? my name is Mr .Williams Eke ,I am  an auditor , I am seeking your co-operation in the execution of a  deal that would be of  mutual benefit  to both of us .Please I  urge you to keep it a top secret due to the  confidential  nature of the transaction.
Note very recently while carrying out the bank internal auditing  , I discovered an abandoned/ unclaimed fund amounting to USD$25.200.000 .00 (Twenty five million two hundred thousand United States Dollars) in an account that belongs to one of our deceased foreign customer, late Mr. Paul-Louis Halley.
Paul-Louis Halley was a French businessman who part-founded the retail company Promodès, which later merged with Carrefour. Much of his fortune came from his 11% stake holding in Carrefour. He was estimated to have a fortune of $2.2bn, putting him at 104th on the Forbes World's Richest People list in 2003. He died in a plane crash on the 6th day of December 2003.Paul-Louis Halley founded the retail company Promodès in 1961, along with his father and brother. The company merged with Carrefour in 1999, with Halley as the principal shareholder .Please visit this wikipedia page below for more information about Mr. Paul Louis Halley:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul-Louis_Halley.
After going through his personal file in the bank, I discovered that he died without any specified next of kin to these funds. Be informed that there is an existing banking law here on  inheritance which  clearly states that where an account owner is  deceased and has no specified next of kin to his or her deposit with the bank  such as in this situation any of the deceased extended relative or friend stands to inherit whatever property or money left by the deceased. It is on the basis of this section of the law that I am seeking   your consent to present you as the next of kin/ heir to the deceased so that the proceeds of this dormant account valued at USD$25.2 Million will be released to you as the beneficiary, which will be shared in percentage ratio of 60: 40 between me and you respectively. All I request of you is your utmost sincere co-operation; trust and maximum confidentiality to enable us achieve success . I have carefully worked out the modalities for execution of thi
However if the content of my proposal offends your moral ethics ,do accept my sincere apology .If on the contrary you wish to achieve this goal with me please kindly get back to me for further explanation/clarifications.
 
.I await your urgent response.
Best regards,
Mr. Williams Eke.

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