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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)
  • "hundred thousand 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)
  • "utmost confidentiality" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a scam)
  • "is 100% risk-free" (almost true for the criminal - arrests of online criminals are rare)
• This email message is a next of kin scam.

Fraud email example:

From: thompson duke <thduke03@hotmail.fr>
Reply-To: <thduke_1_00040@hotmail.fr>
Date: Mon, 29 Oct 2007 13:31:09 +0000
Subject: From Dr Duke



Dear Friend, A very good day to you. Please forgive this unusual way of contacting you as it was borne out of my basic search for a competent, dependable and honest fellow who will help me execute the below detailed transaction. I expect that this information be accorded utmost confidentiality and secrecy. I am the Head of Accounts and Audit Department of Bank Commerciale Du Burkina, Ouagadougou. Although the society today is so unpredictable that the good and the bad live side by side coupled with the monumental hype and crap of the abuse of the internet by some unscrupulous persons, yet i decided to contact you after a careful thought and prayer, and also going the way of my instincts, believing that you may be capable of handling this business transaction which i explained below; In my department, i discovered an abandoned sum of $12.5m US dollars (Twelve million, five hundred thousand US dollars) in an account that belong to one of our foreign customers who died alongside his entire family in in a plane crash that occured in 2003. You can as well re-confirm the authenticity and genuineness of this piece of information,through the underneath website of this incident thus: (http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/africa/07/20/kenya.crash/index.html) Since we recieved 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 applies as next of kin or relation to the deceased as enshrined in our banking guidelines, but unfortunately, we discovered that his supposed next of kin(his son and wife) died alongside with him at the plane crash leaving nobody behind for the claims. Hence, i decided to make this business proposal and release the money to you as the next of kin (I want to present you as his business associate)to the deceased for safety and subsequent disbursement since nobody is coming for it and i don't want this money to go into the Bank treasury as unclaimed Bill. The Banking law and guideline here stipulates that if such money remained unclaimed after four years, the money will be transferred into the Bank treasury as unclaimed fund. The request of foreigner as next of kin in this business is occasioned by the fact that the customer was a foreigner and a Burkinabe cannot stand as next of kin to a foreigner. I have therefore decided that 35% of this money will be for you as foreign partner, in respect to the provision of a foreign account, 5% will be set aside for expenses incurred during the business and 60% would be for me. Thereafter, i shall visit your country for disbursement according to the percentages indicated. Therefore, to enable the immediate transfer of this fund to your account as arranged,you must apply first to the bank as next of kin of the deceased customer. So upon receipt of your reponse, i will furnish you with more details on how to commence with this transaction. I will not fail to bring to your notice that this transaction is 100% risk-free and that you should not entertain any fear as all required arrangements for the transfer of the fund shall be worked out once we commence. Hoping to hear from you immediately. Yours faithfully, Dr Thompson Duke Accounts & Audit Department, Bank Commerciale Du Burkina(BCB)
_________________________________________________________________
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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam