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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 phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "search for a reliable person" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • "lagos" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
• This email message is a next of kin scam.
• This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
  • +2348035687621 (Nigeria, prepaid mobile phone)

Fraud email example:

From: "johnson roland" <johnson_roland2_15@msn.com>
Reply-To: JOHNSON_6@MYWAY.COM
Date: Fri, 17 Feb 2006 09:37:20 +0000
Subject: FROM BARRSITER JOHNSON ROLAND

C

BANK LOCATION
PLOT 27 MAIN MAKET
VICTORIA ISLAND LAGOS
MOBIL PHONE :234-8035687621 RO 014758394



Let me start first by introducing myself to you. I am Mr.johnson roland, a
manager with Eko Bank PLC Lagos, Nigeria. I came to know about you in my
private search for a reliable person to handle a confidential transaction on
behalf of my colleagues and myself.The Proposition: Mr. Wolfgang Khan, a
German and aprosperous oil merchant had a sum of eighteen million five
hundred thousand United State Dollars (U.S.$18.5m) in a domiciliary account
in our bank. From the information available to us here, his wife, Mrs. Helga
Khan was his next of kin and unfortunately two of them died in the air crash
of 25th July 2000 that involved Air France, ConcordAF4590 in Gonesse,
France. Efforts had been made by the management of my bank through the
German embassy in Lagos to contact any of the children orrelatives of Mr.
Wolfgang Khan but to no avail. The bank is still unrelenting in its bid to
contact any of the relatives to claim this money and in the event of nobody
claiming the money, the bank will declare the account dormant and will be
trading with it freely till eternity. In order to avoid this and after these
several unsuccessful attempts to contact any member of Mr. Khan's family, I
decided to track Mr. Khan's last name and that of those he used as
guarantors on the Internet to locate any member of his family or his
guarantors andsince you have the same last name as one of the guarantors, my
colleagues and I decided to seek your permission to have you stands as a
distant relative to Mr. Wolfgang Khan so that the funds would be released to
you. All the documents and proofs to enable you toget these funds will be
carefully worked out.

Furthermore, the bank has secured from the court an order of mandamus
tolocate any of the deceased relatives. I guarantee that this will be
executed under legitimate arrangement that will protect you from any breach
of the law. Please do contact me and let me know about your
willingness.

Regards,

johnson roland

Eko Bank Plc.

Lagos, Nigeria

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam