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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
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• 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:

• 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:
  • "search for a reliable person" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • "million 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 "dying widow" 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.
  • marylynnparker-12@hotmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "Mrs.Marylynn Parker" <park3m@gala.net>
Reply-To: marylynnparker-12@hotmail.com
Date: Wed, 9 Jul 2008 02:04:49 +0100
Subject: beloved friend


*beloved friend,
Please use this money for the poor people, churches and less privileged
people .greetings to you and your family, In my search for a reliable person
and all so a Good person and having gotten your contact through prayers and
painstaking efforts I have decided to seek your help in carrying out my last
wishes. I am Mrs Marylynn Parker,suffering from cancerous ailment.I am
married to Mr.Robert Parker,my husband worked with the Northern Ireland
Channel Islands, England in the United Kingdom for twenty years before he
died in the year 2003. My late husband deposited the sum of £ 15 Million
(Fiftheen Million Dollars) with a Bank.Recently,my Doctor told me that I
have limited days to live due to the stroke and cancerous problems I am
suffering from.I have decided to donate this fund to you and want you to use
this gift which comes from my husbands effort to fund the upkeep of widows
and charities worldwide.I took this decision because I do not have any child
that will inherit this money and my husband relatives are bourgeois and very
wealthy persons and I do not want my husband hard earned money to be
misused.contact me for more information and with your personal data such as:
names,address & telephone number.*

*Email: **marylynnparker-12@hotmail.com* <marylynnparker-12@hotmail.com>

*Please, I beg you to help me to collect this deposit and distribute it
accordingly.Use your judgment to distribute the money and keep 10% of it to
yourself. Feel free to reimburse yourself when you have the money for any
cost you incur during the process of collecting and distributing the
money.if you are willing to help, please reply as soon as possible. May the
good lord bless you .*

*With God all things are possible.
Your Sister in Christ,
From Mrs. Marylynn Parker*

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam