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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)
  • "department of mineral resources" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
  • "chief auditor" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
• This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
  

Fraud email example:

From: Bruno S. <brunostanfordbridge9@hotmail.co.uk>
Reply-To: brunostanfordbridge@yahoo.co.uk
Date: 28 Nov 2007 15:02:43 +0100
Subject: Urgent

Content-Type: text/plain
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit


>From Mr. Bruno Stanfordbridge

Dear Friend,

It is my great honor to communicate with you. I hope that you receive this letter in peace and in good condition of health. I know that this message will be of a great surprise to you since you do not know me before. I got your contact details from your company website over the internet and after going through your/company profile I decided to contact you in respect of the below mentioned transaction.

I am Mr. Bruno Standfordbridge. I work with the Falkland Islands Government as the Chief Auditor with the Mining & Natural Gas Industry (Falkland Island Department of Mineral Resources) headquarters here in UK.

I am contacting you in respect of a lucrative deal that will profit you and I. This is a deal of Twelve Million Great Britain Pounds (£12 Million) which you will be getting 40% and me 60% at the conclusion of this transaction. This amount result from the deal myself and one of the DMR executive did during our annual audit for the mining and natural gas industry this year.

All I need is your total support and sincerity to transfer these funds to your overseas account with your name or company name as a contractor to the Falkland Island Department of Mineral Resources. Every process will be done perfectly without anyone getting into trouble either in your country or mine. In other words I guarantee you 100% risk free in this deal.

Please if you are not interested pretend that you never receive this letter and if you are interested do let me know as soon as possible by sending your contact telephone numbers and other vital details. Forgive me for contacting you through this medium for a transaction like this. It is all due to privacy and security.

Sincerely Yours,
Bruno.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam