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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

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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:
  • "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
  • "foreign remittance department" (Banks mentioned in 419 scams are always fake (real banks don't communicate using mobile phones or free webmail addresses))
• This email message is a next of kin scam.

Fraud email example:

From: patrick radebe <pradebe837@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: <pradebe2007@yahoo.com.hk>
Date: Fri, 3 Aug 2007 18:55:49 +0200
Subject: THANKS



Mr.Patrick Radebe.ABSA Bank Limited,Johannesburg, South Africa. Dear Sir/Madam,
I am Mr.Patrick Radebe, Manager of Bills/Exchange at the Foreign Remittance Department of ABSA Bank. In my department, we discovered an abandoned sum of US$7,400,000.00 in an account that belonged to one of our foreign customers who died along with his entire family in 2002 in a ghastly plane crash, and he happened to be a Foreigner. Since we got the information about his death, we have been expecting his next-of-kin to come over and claim his money because we cannot release it unless somebody applied for it as next of kin or a business partner to the deceased as indicated in our Banking guidelines. Unfortunately, nobody has come forward to claim this money. It is based on this that some officials in my department and I have decided to establish a cordial business relationship with you, hence by contacting you. We want you to present yourself as the business partner of the deceased, so that the funds can be remitted into your account. Moreover, we do not want the money to go into the government account as unclaimed bills. The banking law and guidelines here stipulates that any account abandoned or is dormant for a period of years, is deemed closed and all money contained therein forfeited to the government treasury account. Now, it is being speculated that the above sum will be transferred into the government account as an unclaimed fund on or before the end of this financial quarter of 2007, when nobody come forward to lay claims. The reason for requesting you to present yourself as business partner, is occasioned by, the fact that the deceased (customer) was a foreigner, and we have access to his detailed bio data which you will hold as a weapon to present yourself as the business partner. And I am assuring you that this transaction that we are about to go into is 100% legitimate and risk free, so there is nothing for you to worry about. The mode of sharing after a successful transfer of the money into your account, shall be 60% for my colleagues and I, for the role you will be expected to play in this deal, we have agreed to give you 30% of the total sum and 10% for the expenses we are going to encounter by the two parties in the course of this transaction. Therefore, you are expected to reply to this letter indicating your readiness and interest to participate in this business. After receiving your reply, the next step will be communicated to you.
As a result of the urgency and time being of great essence in these transactions, I will appreciate if you can kindly forward to me the following informations,

(1) Your Direct telephone and Fax numbers(2) Your Nationality(3) Your Full Names.(4) Your Age.(5) Your Occupation/Profession

So that I can contact you and explain to you more details regarding to this transaction and also send you the Bio-data of the deceased so that you can apply for the fund. I expect your urgent response through my email address and I shall contact you for further discussion on this matter, to enable us conclude this transaction urgently without any delay or hitch. Please treat this business proposal as strictly confidential for security reasons considering my official position in ABSA Bank.Personal Regards, Mr.Patrick Radebe.


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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam