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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

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  (+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 phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "million us 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)
  • "abidjan" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
• This email message is a next of kin scam.

Fraud email example:

From: <david_bedie@centrum.cz>
Date: Thu, 02 Oct 2008 11:41:30 +0200
Subject: From Mr David Bedie


From Mr David Bedie

Greetings to you and i hope my letter will not have any effect on your da=
ily schedule.
Please read carefully and confidential for this is a Deal.
I am Mr David Bedie, staff of this bank here in Abidjan Cote D'Ivore, wit=
h due respect i decided to contact you over this business deal worth the =
sum of Seventeen Million US Dollars(17m) in other to entrust this fund in=
to your bank account.
This is an abandoned fund that belongs to the one of our bank customers w=
ho died along with his entire family on July, 2000 in a plane crash disas=
ter.
I was very fortune to meet the deceased file when i was arranging the old=
and abandoned customer=E2=80=99s files of 2000-2001 in other to submit t=
o the bank managements accordingly for documentation purposes.

The Banking Law and Guideline here stipulates that if such money remained=
unclaimed after Eight years without somebody apply as a relative and cla=
iming the money as the next of kin, the money will be transferred into th=
e Bank Treasury as an unclaimed fund.
So the request of you to stand and Appling as a relative is necessarily f=
or this claim, the bank is still expecting the next of kin to apply for t=
he release of the fund to his/her bank account as an inheritance without =
any further delay but unfortunately i discovered after the investigations=
carried out that there is nobody lift behind to stand and claim the fund.
This business is occasioned by the fact that the deceased customer was a =
foreigner and a citizen of this country like me can not stand as the next=
of kin to a foreigner.

Reply immediately with your full name, E-mail contact and Telephone so th=
at i will call you to have one on one talk with you for more detailed inf=
ormation.
I am=C2=A0 looking forward hearing from you.
Yours faithfully,=20
Mr David Bedie.
PLEASE IT IS VERY IMPORTANT YOU SEND YOUR REPLY TO TO MY PRIVENT E-MAIL A=
CCOUNT; mr_bedie@cantv.net

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam