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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:

Fraud email example:

From: "Patrick Sullivan" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <patricksullivan1900@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 15 Nov 2020 04:00:23 -0800
Subject: Business Proposal !!

Dearest Friend,

I am Patrick Sullivan,staff of Emirate NBD Bank Dubai office,I am Group Chief Financial Officer and Asset Management,I am pleased to get across to you for a very urgent and profitable business proposal which I believe will profit the both of us after completion,I contacted you after going through your profile that you might be capable of handling this business transaction without betrayal,There is this late client of mine who is a citizen of your country and bear same name as yours,founder of STAR PETROLEUM LLC DUBAI made a fixed deposit with my bank in January 2009 for 36 calendar months, valued at (US$37,500,000)Thirty Seven Million,Five Hundred Thousand United State Dollars Only,The due date for this deposit contract was the 2nd of April 2012 but unfortunately he was among the death victims in the September 2009 earthquake in Indonesia that left over 1,200 people dead while he was there on business trip.

You can find below the links pertaining to this accident

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Sumatra_earthquakes

All attempts to trace his family were fruitless, My position here at my office requires me to investigate and provide the Next of Kin to the account,I therefore made further investigations and discovered that he did not declare any next of kin or relation in all his official documents including his deposit documents in my bank, According to the UAE Law the money will be reverted to the ownership of the UAE government after 12 years if nobody applies to claim the fund,To prevent this from happening I have decided to seek your assistance to have you stand as his Business Associate so that the said fund (US$37.5 Million USD) would be released in your name as the next of kin and paid into your account, All documents and proof that will have you claim this funds without stress will be forwarded to you upon your response to this mail.

Your immediate response will be appreciated.

Sincerely Yours
Patrick Sullivan
Group Chief Financial Officer and Asset Management
Dubai - Head Office 11th Floor,Emirates NBD Group

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