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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:
  • "hundred thousand 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)
  • "cotonou" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
  • "federal republic of benin" (Benin, Cameroon, etc. are no Federal Republics, unlike Nigeria where this type of scam was invented)
• This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
  
• 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.
  • +22997983584 (Benin, probably a prepaid mobile phone)

Fraud email example:

From: "dr_habib Gazeta.pl" <dr_habib@gazeta.pl>
Date: Sat, 31 May 2008 15:05:06 +0200
Subject: From Dr.Habib Ghazi


*Dear Sir / Ceo ,

I am Dr.Habib Ghazi Senior Accountant & the Auditor General Manager of BANK
OF AFRICA, of the Federal Republic of Benin. I work with BANK OF AFRICA in
Cotonou Benin Rep. It is my wish to solicite your assistance in a business
opportunity that will be benefited for you and I.

During our investigation and Auditing in my Bank, in my department I came
across an abandoned sum of money ( Eight Million One Hundred Thousand US
Dollars) In an account that belongs to one of our foreign customer late
MRS.F. A Shafiq , a citizen of Lebanon who died along with her entire
family.

I wish to know if we can work together. I would like you to stand as her
Next of Kin to a Fixed Deposit of US$8.1M which she made to our Bank. She
died and left nobody behind as her Next of Kin.

Please For for more clarification verbally, call me on this my private
telephone number+229 97983584. ,If you are interested to know much about
this transaction. *


*BEST REGARDS,
Dr.Habib Ghazi.
*

* *

* *

* *

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam