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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
• "Is that email a scam?" - Check it online here!
  
• Frequently asked Questions (419 FAQ)
• Phone numbers used by 419 scammers
  (+225 +229 +234 +27 +31 +32 +34 +44 other)
• Company names mentioned in 419 spam:
  1 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
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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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Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "a security company " (this will cost you money - that's what the scam is about)
  • "is 100% risk free" (almost true for the criminal - arrests of online criminals are rare)
• This email message is a orphan scam.
• This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
  • mchkassi50@yahoo.com

Fraud email example:

From: "Michel Kassi" <bdmickassi@rediffmail.com>
Date: 6 Dec 2006 16:49:22 -0000
Subject: HELLO DEAR


Greetings,&nbsp;Permit me to use this medium after much deliberationto propose to you this business in strict confidence.I am looking for a reliable person who can assist meclaim the sum of (€ 11,500,000 euro) Eleven Million Five Hundred Thousand Euros from a Security Company where it was deposited.I am Mr Michel Kassi (JR),the son of the late former director of the project and engineering division of SODECI (Société De Distribution D\'eau De Côte d\'Ivoire). This amount to be claimed was realised from over-invoiced contract amount awarded by my late father in 2004 to expatriate Companiesfrom france. This Contract\'s Amount was deliberately overestimated to read more than the actual cost of the project thus leaving a surplus of (€ 11,500,000 euro) Eleven Million Five Hundred Thousand Euros for disbursement, but under my protocol division as Civil servants I can not claim this money without a foreign partner who will act as the executed contractor/ beneficiary and as such, entitled to claim the money from the security Company and serve as the custodian of this money.&nbsp;Please if this proposal appeals to your interest I shall give you the contact of the security company and all legal documents of the deposited money, and upon assisting me successfully I will give you 25% of the total amount,were the rest will be held and released to us for disboursment in your country.&nbsp;And be assured that I have worked out allmodalities concerning the claim of this Fund so this transaction is 100% risk free.I prefare you write me through my private email: (mchkassi50@yahoo.com)Best regards,&nbsp;Engr Michel Kassi.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam