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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
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• Frequently asked Questions (419 FAQ)
• Phone numbers used by 419 scammers
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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.

Read more about such scams here or in our 419 FAQ. Use the Scam-O-Matic to verify suspect emails.

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Fraud email example:

From: "Darren Owens" <darrenowens01@msn.com>
Date: Wed, 03 Aug 2005 20:53:09 +0000
Subject: CAN YOU?

Dear friend,
I am a registered financial security agent of the FSA (Financial Services
Authority) in the UK; the FSA is attached to the Department of Treasury.
I have been in charge of a particular dormant/suspense account with a
balance of US$12.5 million (Twelve Million, Five Hundred Thousand United
States Dollars), which no one from my proficient examination, using the
extensive data protection database, has laid claims to. This account has
been dormant since 1999 and the department has been changing custodians of
the funds for the last 3 (three) years, without a claimant.
At this stage, I need a very reliable and responsible dealing minded person
who would assist me in the claims of the funds, so that it would not be
reverted to the British and European Authorities. I will initiate a
systematic transfer of the said funds into an account opened in your name or
company's, whichever you find to be most appropriate.

I will need your response, in order to grant you access to the detailed
facts and figures to this account. I have been able to contact you; based on
information retrieved from the credit reference database attached to my
institution. I will be most willing to go into partnership with you to see
this task completed within a limited time frame. I assure you there would be
no risk to your name or personality. But, you would be required to open an
account here and the institution will guide accordingly. I hope you
understand why I can't disclose exclusive data at this stage. Do kindly send
your return email to this particular email address: dowens01@i12.com; upon
this, I will be able to send you more details regarding this deal. If I do
not hear from you in the next few days I would take for granted you are not
interested.
It will be a good thing if you could provide a phone number to reach you. I
look forward to an excellent business relationship with you.
My regards,

Darren Owens.


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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam