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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:
  • "from the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • "million british pounds" (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)
  • "confidential business" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a scam)
  • "is highly confidential" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a scam)
• This email message is a next of kin scam.
• 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.
  • +447045727975 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: Dr Alfred Cole <drcole82@msn.com>
Reply-To: <auditor_halifax@msn.com>
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2008 12:29:46 +0000
Subject: From the Desk of Dr Alfred Cole



From the Desk of Dr Alfred Coleof Halifax Bank of Scotland171-173 Putney High Street, London, United Kingdomwww.bankofscotlandhalifax.co.uk+44 704 572 7975 Greetings to you, Do accept my sincere apologies if my mail does not meet your personal Ethics. I introduce myself as Dr Alfred Cole, a Chartered Portfolio Manager (CPM) and External AUDITOR with HALIFAX BANK OF SCOTLAND, one of the oldest banks in UK and a major financial service provider in England. My primary duties are investment counseling and Portfolio Investment in the FDI sector, these entails managing all sort of investment portfolios (such as stocks, bonds, warrants, gold certificates, real estate, futures contracts etc) without actually requiring client's approval for actions for investment purposes. I am a British citizen who travels across Europe on regular bases due to the nature of my job even though, I do reside in England. After going through your profile and doing a little research, I can sense that you seem like an honest and trustworthy person who can handle confidential business with me. What I am about to disclose to you is highly confidential and I trust that you will not betray the confidence I am reposing on you. During the course of our auditing,I discovered a floating fund in an account opened in the bank and since then nobody has operated on this account again. After going through some old files in the records, I discovered that the owner of the account died without a "Heir" apparent to the throne hence the money is floating and if I do not remit this money out urgently it will be forfeited for nothing. The owner of this account who is John Shumejda a foreigner and an industrialist died on the 4th of January 2002 in a plane crash in Birmingham; for details on the crash you can view this CNN website below(http://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/01/04/england.plane/) since 6 years and until now no other person(s) knows about this account or could give any documentary evidence concerning this account. As such this account has no other beneficiary and my investigation proved to me as well that John Shumejda until his death was the President Agricultural Equipment Giant AGCO Corp. I am only contacting you as a foreigner because this money can not be approved to a local account, without valid international foreign "Agreement", but could only be approved to any foreigner with valid international credentials: passport or drivers license and foreign account because the former owner of the account is a foreigner too. The total amount in the account is £15,000.000.00GBP,(Fiftheen million british Pounds). As a matter of urgency, as soon as i hear from you i will inform you the details, while you Send me your private telephone and fax number including the full details of the account to be used for the deposit and at the conclusion of this business, you will be given 35% of the total amount, 60% will be for me, while 5% will be for expenses both parties might have incurred during this process.
Thank you for your time.

Yours truly, Dr. Alfred Cole.External Auditor of Halifax Bank.Direct Tele:+44 (0)704-572-7975Email: auditor_halifax@msn.com

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam