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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:

• An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • "million 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.
• This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
  • samkerekou82@myway.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: kerekou samuel <samkerekou24@hotmail.fr>
Reply-To: <samkerekou82@myway.com>
Date: Wed, 22 Aug 2007 16:13:18 +0100
Subject: PLS GET BACK TO ME URGENTLY.



Dear Friend,
It's my Pleasure writing to you at this moment of the day, I am Mr Samuel Kerekou,I am an accountant with the Continental Bank in Cotonou-Benin Republic. I deem it fit to contact you regarding to a transaction that will favour both of us at the end,I want to know if i can trust you in claiming the fund in question.
I discovered the sum of Fifteen million United States Dollars (USD15M) 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 Dr. Hamid Ayed from lebanon, involved in the December 25th Benin plane crash. Here is the air crash website onfiltered= 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 this fiscal year, the government of the Republic of Benin will take over the ownership of the fund in line with the Federal Edict Act of 1979. Honestly I do not want the government to take over the ownership of this money, that is why I'm contacting you for us to work this out together, so that I will portray you as the bonafide next of kin to the deceased whose name is Dr. Hamid Ayed.
If you accept to carry out this project with me, I will offer you 40% of the total sum, while I will take 60% of the total sum which you will transfer into my private account which i will open after the successful transfer of the inheritance into your account . Upon your acceptance to do this deal with me i will advise all the modalities involve which 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 through out the duration of this transaction, because discussing it with a third party might jeopardise the entire transaction.
Before we proceed in this great deal,i want you to forward to me ASAP the following information below as to establish a mutual understanding;
1)Your Residential/Office Address.2)Your Telephone/Fax Number.3)Your profession.4)Your Age/Marital status.
Once i received the above mentioned information, i will send you an specimen claim application which you will fill and submit to the Bank management for the claim.I am looking forward to receiving your interesting response on this project as this will greatly enrich both of us at the end.You can reply me as soon as you received this mail on this my private email address(samkerekou82@myway.com)
BEST REGARDS,Mr.Samuel Kerekou
_________________________________________________________________
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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam