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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:
  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:

• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "huge amount of money" (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 united states 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)
  • ",000,000" (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)
  • "abidjan" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
  • "god fearing " (scammers in West Africa like to use religious phrases)
• This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
  

Fraud email example:

From: "Maria Katrina" <mariakatrina21@gazeta.pl>
Reply-To: mariakatrina@mailbox.hu
Date: Thu, 22 May 2008 11:27:56 +0000
Subject: From Maria Katrina


*FROM MARIA AND CHARLES KATRINA
ABIDJAN COTE D'IVOIRE

Dear,

Permit me to inform you of our desire of going into business relationship
with you. My brother and I, urgently need your assistance for us to continue
with our education and lives and that is why I have sent you this email.

We have prayed over this and believe that you will not disappoint us in this
affair. I am MARIA KATRINA, the only daughter of late Mr. and Mrs. FAYE
KATRINA and my brother is CHARLES KATRINA. Our father was a very wealthy
cocoa merchant in Abidjan , the economic capital of Ivory Coast before he
was poisoned to death by his business associates.

Upon our mother's death on the 21st of October 1996, our father took my
brother and I really special because we were motherless. Before the death of
our father on 30th June 2005 in a private hospital here in Abidjan, he
called us to his bedside and told us that he had the sum of $5,000,000 (FIVE
Million United States Dollars) deposited in a bank here in his name.

He also explained to us that it was on account of this wealth and a huge
amount of money his business associates were supposed to refund him from one
of their deals, that he was poisoned by his business associates. He asked us
to seek a God fearing foreign partner in a country of our choice who can
come down and claim this fund from the bank for us for investment purposes.

We are humbly seeking your assistance in the following ways:

( 1) To act as the foreign partner of our father by claiming this fund from
the bank for further transfer and investment to your designated bank account
abroad.

( 2) To serve as our Trustee since I am 19 years old and my brother is just
17.

Moreover, we are willing to offer you 15% of the sum as compensation for
your efforts after the successful transfer of this fund to your designated
account in your country.



Anticipating your favourable response.

Thanks and God Bless You.

Best regards,

MARIA KATRINA
CHARLES KATRINA
*

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam