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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: "Dr. Francis Dauglas" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <dr.francisdouglas@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Sat, 3 Feb 2018 00:00:17 -0800
Subject: URGENT RESPONSE NEEDED!

Dear Sir/Madam,
I am Dr. Francis Douglas, Chief Auditor, with the Barclays Bank Plc, London branch, United Kingdom. I came to know you in my Private Search for a reliable and reputable person to handle this confidential transaction with. I write you this proposal in good faith. I have a financial transaction that will benefit both of us. On the 31st July 2000, a Cyprus Oil consultant/Merchant with the Scotland Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (S.P.C.C) by name Mr. Kattan Azmal made a fixed deposit of Twenty Eight Million, Five Hundred Thousand Great Britain Pounds (GBP 28,500,000.00) in my branch which is expected to be matured in Eight (8) years.
 
Upon maturity, I sent a notification letter to him via his address but got no reply. After few months, I sent a reminder and finally discovered that Mr. Kattan Azmal is dead. He died on a ghastly motor accident as he traveled to his home country, and since then all attempts made to trace his relations were fruitless neither has anyone shown up as his next of kin to claim his money.
 
However, according to the UK Banking laws, if such fund remains unclaimed for the period of +5 years, the money will be converted to ownership of the bank treasury or automatically reverts to the Queen's Treasury as unclaimed fund.
 
Therefore, my proposal is that hence nobody has showed up as a next of kin to Mr. Kattan Azmal all these years, I will like you as a foreigner to stand in as the next of kin to Mr. Kattan Azmal to claim this fund for our mutual benefit. Be informed that the reason for a foreigner as next of kin in this deal is necessary given the fact that the customer was a foreigner and a UK citizen cannot stand as his next of kin.
 
 
This money will be shared on a 50% (Fifty percentage) between you and I, which must be written in the agreement of personal trusteeship, once the fund is transferred to your desired bank account in your country or anywhere else of your choice and you invite me to come for the sharing.
 
Upon your acceptance, I shall provide you with more details and relevant documents that will enable you stand firmly as the legal next of kin to Mr. Kattan Azmal. Should this be acceptable to you, kindly indicate in writing and confirm the following to me at once ONLY through my personal email IDs at: dr.francisdouglas@yahoo.co.uk, dr.francisdauglas@gmail.com as:
Full Name: .............................................................
Contact Address: ....................................................
Direct Telephone Number: ......................................
Age: ......................................................................
Occupation and Position: ........................................
Marriage Status: .....................................................
Gender: .................................................................
I want to emphasize here that this deal is free from any form of risk from both parties as great care has been exercised in perfecting it, and therefore, I enjoin you to approach it with an open mind and without any fear whatsoever. As a deal, I also make haste to advice that you should be private about it.
 
My skype ID is: FrancisDauglas. If you don't mind, you can add me on skype my ID and come on skype for us to have a live video/webcam chart via skype to be able to see each other live while we communicate through skype.
Best Regards,
Dr. Francis Douglas,
Chief Auditor, Barclays Bank,
London branch, UK.
Emails: dr.francisdouglas@yahoo.co.uk,
dr.francisdauglas@gmail.com
Cell: +44 703 191 0689.

Anti-fraud resources: