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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:
  • "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • "the consignment " (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)
  • "trunk box" (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)
  • "million us 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)
• This email message is a orphan 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.
  • aliou.youssuf_alhan@yahoo.co.uk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "Mr Aliou Youssuf Alhan" <alioualhan@yahoo.co.uk> (may be fake)
Reply-To: aliou.youssuf_alhan@yahoo.co.uk
Date: Sat, 15 Sep 2007 10:53:50 +0000
Subject: URGENT REPLY PLAESE

Dear Friend,
My name is Mr. Aliou, the first son of the late Mr.Youssuf Alhan who was a cocoa farmer and a business man in our community .Whiles he was still alive, he was so in love with estate development and was to organize an estate development business in Cote d’viore but he could not fulfill his dream because of his untimely death.

After his burial, his lawyer called me and handed over to me an envelop, in the envelop was an instruction that he made a deposit sum of ($13.2) million US dollars in a finance house, on behave of his foreign partner,the money is in a trunk box that he wanted to use the money to organize the estate development business that in case something happen to him, I should contact a professional to act as his foreign partner, who knows about the investment so he can use the money to organize the business or invest the fund in any other business my foreign partner deem fit to invest the fund.

I contacted the security company to find out if the trunk box was still in their vault and I was told that it is still there and the instruction was that I the first son should come with a foreign partner to retrieve the consignment.

On the certificate of deposit, the box was deposited as family treasure so the security company does not know that the box contains money rather contains family treasure. On this ground I am contacting you to help me, so we can retrieve the consignment from the security company and put the money into any good investment you deem fit as instructed by my late father.

I am waiting anxiously to get your reply of this mail so I can fax or mail to you the certificate of deposit that was given to my late father by the security company so we can proceed ahead.

Contact.E-mail...aliou.youssuf_alhan@yahoo.co.uk <mailto:Contact.E-mail...aliou.youssuf_alhan@yahoo.co.uk>
Regards,
Aliou.Youssuf Alhan

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam