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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: "From Mr. Tony Thiethoaly" <officemail923@gmail.com>
Reply-To: mai.2021@rediffmail.com
Date: Mon, 30 May 2022 15:27:30 +0100
Subject: Hello Compliment


Hello Compliment, I'm Tony Thiethoaly, a fund manager with a wealth
management firm which is situated in Monaco, French Riviera. A deceased
client of mine who was the Former CEO of a United Kingdom based catering
giant Compass Group Plc, Mr. Richard Cousins who died in a chartered
“sightseeing” seaplane crash north of Sydney on 31st December, 2017 along
with his two sons, Edward Cousins 23 and William Cousins 25, his
48-year-old fiancee and her 11-year-old daughter. Here is more information
on his death with the accident report conclusion for your perusal.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/01/business/sydney-compass-richard-cousins.html
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/01/01/australian-police-name-british-family-killed-seaplane-crash/

I decided to contact you purely on the personal conviction of trust and
confidence to assist in distributing the funds left behind by my client.
The deceased had a deposit (£5.2 million) which I helped him lodge in one
of the leading banks in London in February, 2015 shortly before his death.
His attorney and I have been issued a notice by his Bank to provide his
next of kin or beneficiary, otherwise the account would be CONFISCATED
since nobody has come forward to lay claims on the money since his death.
Our search for his relative has not been successful either. My proposition
to you is to seek your consent to present you as a relative/next-of-kin and
beneficiary of my client, so that the proceeds of this account could be
paid to you and we can share the amount on a mutually agreed term. My offer
to you is real and it will be executed under a legitimate arrangement that
will protect you from any breach of the law. I must use this opportunity to
implore you to exercise the utmost indulgence to keep this matter strictly
confidential, whatever your decision, while I await your prompt response.
If this business proposition offends your moral values, do accept my
apology.

Best Regards,
Tony Thiethoaly.

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