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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

The so-called "419" scam is a type of fraud dominated by criminals from Nigeria and other countries in Africa. Victims of the scam are promised a large amount of money, such as a lottery prize, inheritance, money sitting in some bank account, etc.

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.

Keep in mind that scammers DO NOT use their real names when defrauding people.
The criminals either abuse names of real people or companies or invent names or addresses.
Any real people or companies mentioned below have NO CONNECTION to the scammers!

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:

Fraud email example:

From: Michel Kassi <mkas13@hotmail.fr>
Reply-To: <mkas7@voila.fr>
Date: Wed, 16 May 2007 14:15:54 +0000
Subject: FOR YOR ATTENTION.



FOR YOR ATTENTION.

Greetings, Permit me to use this medium, after much deliberation, to propose to you this business in strict confidence. I am looking for a reliable person who can collaborate and assist me in the transfer of some amount of money into his or her Account.I am Michel Kassi, a senior Engineer in Project and Engineering Division in my Corporation. This amount to be transferred was realised from over-invoiced contract amount awarded by us in 2003 to expatriate companies. This Contract amount was deliberately overestimated to read more than the actual cost of the project thus leaving a surplus for disbursement among ourselves, but under our protocol we can not claim this money without a foreign company who will act as the executed contract beneficiary. This is why I am contacting you to allow this money to be transferred into your account.As civil servants our resources are limited and therefore not sufficient to handle this transaction from this stage. If this proposal appeals to your interest and you assist us successfully we will give you 20% of the total amount, the rest will be held and released to us for disbursement.Please be assured that we have worked out all modalities concerning the payment and subsequent transfer of this fund, though you are expected to treat it with strictest confidence. On indication of your interest and willingness to collaborate with us, I will give you further details and let you know the procedure. In anticipation of your acknowledgement of this proposal I thank you for taking your time to go through this mail.Best regards.Michel Kassi
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