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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: "Dennis Esq" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <dyesq2021@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 5 Feb 2021 11:05:48 +0100
Subject: Estate beneficiary . !!!

Good day,
 
Your attention is highly needed. I contacted you due to the urgency of this transaction. I am Dennis Yakubu Esq, personal attorney to Late Michael Abba who died of cardiac arrest a few years ago at ST.Theresa's Hospital leaving behind a large sum of money at a commercial bank here in Lagos Island. Presently, I will not mention the amount of money that is involved until we have agreed to this transaction.
 
I believe you will understand the need for my safety measure. The bank has asked my Law office, which is the personal attorney to Late Michael Abba to forward his next of kin or family relative that will claim the funds, Please note if there's nobody to claim the fund after a period of time, the government will declare the fund as unclaimed. I have made valuable efforts to get to my client relation but to no avail, it will be very unwise for me to allow my client fruit of Labor to be declared as unclaimed fund and to avert this negative development, my colleagues and I have decided to look for a reputable person that will stand as the next of kin/ family representative so that the funds could be processed in his name as the next of kin and that is why I contacted you.
My Law office will also stand as your personal attorneys and all legal documents to back you in claiming this fund will be provided by us. Your help will be appreciated based on the percentage as agreement..
 
Please provide me with your private email address so that I can send more details to you.
 
Kindly await your response.
 
Yours Faithfully
Dennis Yakubu

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