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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: "Coleman Byran" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <ofile7824@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 3 Feb 2021 23:58:00 +0100
Subject: URGENT INFORMATION, PLEASE REPLY ASAP

Good Day,
 
Hope all is well with you. I saw your profile while searching for a good businessperson and I felt I should relate this very good opportunity to you. I am a Manager at Safestore self-storage facility in London United Kingdom and I have a mutual beneficial business proposal for you. One of our formal clients named Saif Al-Isman Gaddafi, whom I know you must have heard off from the recent invents that happened in Libya.  He was a personal friend, as we were both class mate at the London School of Economics where we studied. He deposited Millions of United States Dollars cash in a bank here in London through my contact under anonymous. During the uprising in Libya he could not come down here to complete the deposit process and collect some needed cash then.
 
Recently I was contacted by the concerned bank as his surity and attorney, as it was over the period a deposit can be left in the bank without completion/closure. The problem now is that I did this as a favor for a friend under anonymous from the company, which means I have to close the deposit myself or face the consequences. As you well know my client's father is dead, Saif AL-Islam himself sentenced to death by Libya Government. No one is coming to collect the fund or close the deposit.  The other issue is, I cannot bank or invest the money as I would be questioned where the money is from, hence I need you.
The release of the fund from the bank, would be done successfully as I made the deposit myself. Please, if you agree to help, I am leaving the sharing pattern open for negotiations between us.  I would also want us to use part of the funds to establish a charitable Foundation to help the children, widows, orphans in war places. I do hope you would also appreciate why we must be discrete about this transaction.
 
There is no risk involved in the transactions, as the deposit were not made with our client's name and cannot be linked to him or his family. This is a matter of trust and hopefully I can rely on you. Please reply me even if you are not interested, so that I can continue my search because I am under pressure of time to clear the deposit otherwise the state will claim the fund, but in a situation whereby you have the capability to assist, please reply as soon as possible, so that we can discuss in details.
 
Thanks and God bless.
 
See links of news connected to what i have informed you below.
 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/educ ation-12621140
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new s/article-1360850/Gaddafis-3bn -British-transfer-European-lea ders-wont-tolerate-brutality.h tml
http://articles.businessinside r.com/2011-02-26/news/30099907 _1_london-firm-freeze-assets
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new s/article-1362927/Ship-carryin g-100m-Gaddafi-regime-intercep ted-British-waters.html
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/ 2015/07/gaddafi-son-saif-al-is lam-libya-sentenced-death-1507 28084429303.html
 
Best Regards,                                                                                                                                         
Byran Coleman

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