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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
• "Is that email a scam?" - Check it online here!
  
• 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:
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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 sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
  • "a security company " (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. Never ever send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally. )
  • "god fearing " (scammers in West Africa like to use religious phrases)
• This email message is a orphan scam.

Fraud email example:

From: Mensah Kwame <m_kwame2000@yahoo.co.uk>
Reply-To: m_kwame100@yahoo.com
Date: Fri, 2 May 2008 20:25:08 +0100 (BST)
Subject: VERY URGENT PLEASE


Dear Sir/Madam,

I am Mr. Mensah Kwame, from Accra in Ghana, I am contacting you in good faith because I believe that you will be in good position to assist me and my mother. I inherited ($20 Million U.S Dollars) from my late father who died three years ago in Accra-Ghana through a fatal motor accident which occurred on the 12 April 2006. I am the only child of late Mr. Appiah Kwame, I have agreed to invest this fund viable in any Overseas country through your assistance and directives.

You will provide or look for a lucrative venture where this fund can be investing on before proceeding, we will get to be more familiar and also go into an understanding working agreement because as the only son of my late father, my future now depends on this fund. My late father deposited this fund in a security company here in Ghana before my father died, all the deposited documents of the fund is with my mother and we can as well forward them to you as soon as you show your immediate response for more verification. The box containing the fund was deposited as family belongings by my late father before his died and this was done for security reasons and the safety of the fund.

My mother and I want you to stand as a foreign partner to my late father to help us secure the fund from a security company for our investment in you country. We will also like to know what you will take as your percentage for assisting us. We sincerely wish to introduce and make you our business partner in your country. We will send all the deposited documents to you as soon as you show your immediate response. My mother and I need your trust and honesty because we are a Christian and we are God fearing people. Please send your direct phone and fax numbers for more information on your reply.

We are waiting to hear from you soon.

Best Regards,

Mr. Mensah Kwame.

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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam