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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:
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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 fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
  • "federal republic of benin" (Benin is no Federal Republic, unlike Nigeria where this type of scam was invented)
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • "hundred thousand united states dollars" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
• This email message is a next of kin scam.
• This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
  • +22993411348 (Benin, probably a prepaid mobile phone)

Fraud email example:

From: m duke <m.duke004@hotmail.fr>
Reply-To: <mark_don57@yahoo.com>
Date: Mon, 27 Aug 2007 03:55:43 +0100
Subject: DEAR FRIEND



FROM MORRIS DUKE+ 229 9 3 41 13 48 DEAR FRIEND, Is my Pleasure writing to you at this moment of the day, I am Mr morris duke, the director incharge of Bill and Exchange of One of the leading bank in west coast Africa. I deem it fit to contact you regarding to a transaction that will be of favour to both of us at the end, and i got your contact in my search for a reputable and reliable person tohelp me claim the fundin question. We discovered the sum of 13 million one hundred thousand United States Dollars (USD13.1M) belonging to a deceased customer of this bank. The fund has been lying in a suspence accountwithout anybody coming to put claim over the fund since the account owner lateMr.Mohamed Mohd from lebanon, who was involved in the December 25th Benin plane crash. Here is the air crashwebsite= http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/africa/12/26/benin.crash/index.html The said fund is now ready for transfer to a foriegn account whose owner will be portrayed as the beneficiary and next of kin to the deceased customer of the bank. The foriegn account owner will impost himself as the next of kin to the deceased and respond positively like a true next ofkin who wishes to speed up the release and transfer of his inherited fund. If the over due fund is not claimed by the end of this year, the government of the Federal Republic of Benin will take over the ownership of the fund in line with the Federal Edict Act of 1979. We do not want the government to take over the ownership of this fund, tha is why I contacted you for us to do the deal together, so that we will portray you as the bonafide next of kin to thedeceased whose name is Mr.Mohamed Mohd. If you accept to carry out this project with us, we will offer you 30% of the total sum,10% will set aside to upset any expenses incured onthe course of making this transaction a success while I and my colleagues involved will take 60% of the total sum. Upon your acceptance to do this deal with us, we will jointly effect thetransfer within 7 working days.Be rest assured that, this transaction carries no risk and no extra responssibilities on your part, except the above mentioned roles and normally you will be required to maintain absolute information and absolute secracy throughout the duration of this transaction, because discussing it with a third party might jeopardise the entire transaction. I am looking forward to receiving your interesting response on this project as this will greatly enrich the both of us at the end. Mr morris duke. +229 9 3 41 13 48
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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam