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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) 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 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:
  • "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)
  • "cotonou" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
• This email message is a next of kin scam.

Fraud email example:

From: francis adam <francis20adam@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: <francis8adam@yahoo.com>
Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2007 14:37:17 +0100
Subject: My Dear,It Is Very Urgent.



FROM DR.FRANCIS ADAM.DIRECTOR INCHARGE OF AUDITING AND ACCOUNTING UNIT,BANK OF AFRICA (BOA)COTONOU-BENIN REPUBLIC. Pleasure writing to you at this moment of the day, I am Dr.Francis Adam, the director incharge of auditing and accounting Unit of BANK OF AFRICA in Cotonou-Benin Republic. I and my colleagues deem it fit to contact you regarding to a transaction that will favour both of us at the end, and i got your contact in my search for a reputable and reliable person to help me claim the fund in question. We discovered the sum of twenty two million two hundred thousand United States Dollars (USD22.2M) belonging to a deceased customer of this bank. The fund has been lying in a suspence account without anybody coming to put claim over the money since the account owner late Mr. Mohamed Mohd from libanon, who was involved in the December 25th Benin plane crash. Here is the air crash 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 of kin 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 next quarter of the 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 money, that 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 the deceased 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, while I and my colleagues involved will take 70% of the total sum. Upon your acceptance to do this deal with us, we will jointly effect the transfer within eight 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 secrecy 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 with both of us at the end.Best Regard,Dr.Francis Adam.
My Dear,It Is Very Urgent.


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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam