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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
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• Frequently asked Questions (419 FAQ)
• Phone numbers used by 419 scammers
  (+225 +229 +234 +27 +31 +32 +34 +44 other)
• Company names mentioned in 419 spam:
  1 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
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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:
  • "% commission" (Beware of any scheme that involves depositing checks or money orders or receiving wire transfers in your bank account and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere, for a percentage of 5-15% of the total. Such offers are *always* fraudulent and you will be liable for the entire amount when the checks, money orders or wire transfers turn out to be fraudulent. Any money already forwarded comes out of *your* pocket then. )
  • "commission of 10%" (Beware of any scheme that involves depositing checks or money orders or receiving wire transfers in your bank account and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere, for a percentage of 5-15% of the total. Such offers are *always* fraudulent and you will be liable for the entire amount when the checks, money orders or wire transfers turn out to be fraudulent. Any money already forwarded comes out of *your* pocket then. )
  • "deduct your 10%" (Beware of any scheme that involves depositing checks or money orders or receiving wire transfers in your bank account and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere, for a percentage of 5-15% of the total. Such offers are *always* fraudulent and you will be liable for the entire amount when the checks, money orders or wire transfers turn out to be fraudulent. Any money already forwarded comes out of *your* pocket then. )
  • "courier service" (Courier companies mentioned in 419 scams are always fake. They will have you send money to them, but won't deliver anything. )
  • "money orders " (Beware of any scheme that involves cashing checks or money orders and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere - you'll be liable for the entire amount if the checks or money orders turn out to be fake, even after you have received and forwarded cash. If it's a lottery prize, remember that real lotteries do not pay large prizes by check. They wire the money directly to your bank account and you do not pay for that. Many scammers promise a large check only in order to then demand payment of courier fees for a fake courier service. )
  • "cheque " (Beware of any scheme that involves cashing checks or money orders and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere - you'll be liable for the entire amount if the checks or money orders turn out to be fake, even after you have received and forwarded cash. If it's a lottery prize, remember that real lotteries do not pay large prizes by check. They wire the money directly to your bank account and you do not pay for that. Many scammers promise a large check only in order to then demand payment of courier fees for a fake courier service. )
• This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
  
• Western Union money transfer is completely untraceable and therefore is *not* safe to use with anyone you do not know personally. It is the preferred method of online criminals to collect money from their victims.
• 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.
  • creativeartwork75@yahoo.com
  • creativeartwork1@rediffmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "Bao Yu" <creativeartwork@rediffmail.com>
Date: 29 Aug 2007 23:36:01 -0000
Subject: creativeartwork job offer


Dear Sir,&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; My name is \"Bao Yu\"&nbsp; from Taiwan, Republic of China.&nbsp; a prolific artist, i have been into it for over 25 years now. I majored in fine art in high school and took a few college art courses. Most of my masterpeace work is done in either pencil or airbrush mixed with color pencils, oil paintings,sculptures, moulding.i also designed and create artwork on the computer.&nbsp;&nbsp; most of my jobs \'s&nbsp; doing so well out there and many of it can be found in CISSTINE CHAPEL&nbsp; in ITALY and i have had a lot of&nbsp; works featured on trading cards, prints and in magazines. Most of it can be found in galleries and to private collectors from around the global world and i get paid without hassles. &nbsp;I am always facing serious difficulties when it comes to selling&nbsp; of my work in the AMERICA, LATIN AMERICA&nbsp; CANADA &amp;&nbsp; SOUTH AMERICA&nbsp; AND EUROPE. owing to the fact that they mostly offer to pay with a&nbsp; CHEQUE/BANKER\'S DRAFT or MONEY ORDER, which is&nbsp; difficult for me to cash here in Taiwan, also the cost of going to those afformentioned locations and get the payments is very expensive,though i am currently working on setting up a branch in the UK, AMERICA CANADA and Europe as a whole. &nbsp;In view of the above, i am in urgent need of offshore&nbsp; representative in those location who will be handling the payment aspect ,by recieving my payments on my behalf from my clients .It is as a result of the above that we came up with the idea of looking for a responsible and competent person(s) who will be&nbsp; assisting&nbsp; me in those areas,whom i can entrust my payments upon and who will cash the payment&nbsp; on my behalf . he/she recieves them and forward the Monies to me any where i want it ,either through Western&nbsp; Union International Money Transfer.or Bank transfer .What i need from you is just to :&nbsp;recieve the payments and take them to your local bank,get it cashed and also deduct your own commission. I prepared to offer a commission of 10%&nbsp; on every&nbsp; payments recieved and cashed,and i shall increase the commission from time to time based on your competence and efficiency.
This does not stop you from doing your normal job,it\'s just for you to take deliveries of payments and cash them and transfer the money to me&nbsp; . .May i not fail to inform you that you have to assure me&nbsp; that any payments you recieve will be instantly pay in to your account&nbsp; and transfered immediately after the cheque as clear,as i am just starting this set up and i would not like a situation where people will make away out squander my hard earned money,so please assure me that all will be well in this business endeavour.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; What the job entails is for you to:
(A) Receive Payments on my Behalf from my Debtors;such&nbsp; payments&nbsp; shall come in the form of , Checks ,Postal Money Orders and Bank drafts,issue&nbsp; in your name.(B) Bank the payments and deduct your 10% commission and get back to me(C) you will either transfer the monies via&nbsp; Western Union International Money Transfer.or through Bank Transfer
It wouldn\'t cost you any amount, You are to receive payments which&nbsp; will be sent to you by courier service,royal mail,by post from my debtors,&nbsp; then you are to bank it&nbsp; and deduct your own 10% commission and send the remaining payment&nbsp; to me , you &nbsp;Find below the Information required from you is as follows:.(1) Your full name............................(2)Age......................(3)Home address.....................(4)Province.......................(5 )State..........................(5)Country.........................PHONE NUMBERS ....................&nbsp; A SCAN COPY OF YOUR&nbsp; INTERNATIONAL PASSPORT or&nbsp; DRIVER\'S LICENCE is also needed.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Once I get these details I will forward them from time to time to my clients who will then issue out the payments in your favour and send it to you for cashing.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; This is a completely legal transaction&nbsp; in as much as you prove your honesty by acting to instructions, Please get back to me immediately as i have a lot of&nbsp; payments to recieve and as soon as you send me details about you. i will instruct and introduce you to my client and you start receiving the payment as directed.I expect your prompt reply to { creativeartwork75@yahoo.com } or (creativeartwork1@rediffmail.com)&nbsp;&nbsp;Best Regard&nbsp; Bao Yu

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam