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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 friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
• This email message is a next of kin scam.

Fraud email example:

From: (sent from abused email account)
Reply-To: thomasjames_tg@yahoo.fr
Date: Wed, 29 Oct 2008 06:44:48 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Get Back To Me Albert van der Zeijden



Dear Friend,

=A0=20
=A0I am Barr Thomas James, a solicitor at law, personal Lawyer to Mr J.P va=
n der Zeijden a National of your country.Who used to work with Shell Develo=
pment Company in Lome as a contractor, herein after shall be referred to as=
my client. On the 21st of April 2003, my client was involved in a car acci=
dent along Nouvissi express Road.All occupants of the vehicle=A0 including =
his wife and only child unfortunately lost their lives.

Since then i have made several enquiries to your embassy here to locate any=
of my clients extended relatives in his home country, this has also proved=
unsuccessful.=20
=A0=20
After these several unsuccessful attempts, I decided to track his last name=
over the Internet, to locate any member of his family hence I contacted yo=
u. I have contacted you to assist in claiming and repatriating the fund val=
ued at (US$20.5 M) twenty million five hundred thousand dollars left behind=
by my client before it gets confiscated or declared unserviceable where th=
is huge amount was=A0deposited.

The said=A0has for sometime now issued me a notice to provide the next of k=
in of my client or his account shall be declared dormant or possibly confis=
cated. Since I have been=A0 unsuccessful in locating the relatives for over=
2years now, I seek the consent to=A0present you as the next of kin to the =
deceased since you have the same last names, so that the proceeds of this a=
ccount can be paid to you.=A0

Therefore, on receipt of your positive response, we shall then discuss the =
sharing ratio and modalities for transfer. I have all necessary information=
and legal documents needed to back you up for this claim.

=A0All I require from you is your honest cooperation to enable us see this =
transaction through.=20
I guarantee that this will be executed under legitimate arrangement that wi=
ll protect you from any breach of the law.
=A0=20
Please get in touch with me through the above e-mail for more details.

=A0 Best Regards.
=A0=A0Thomas James (Esq =0A=0A=0A

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam