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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

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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:
  • "very 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)
  • "is 100% risk free" (almost true for the criminal - arrests of online criminals are rare)
  • "lome togo" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
• This email message is a next of kin scam.

Fraud email example:

From: "Allison Owen" <allisonwn018@gmail.com>
Reply-To: allison_owen1965@hotmail.com
Date: Fri, 18 Jul 2008 11:53:05 +0200
Subject: Personal Information


FROM MR ALLISON OWEN.
AUDITING AND ACCOUNTING DEPARTMENT OF
GORDON BANK PLC,
LOME-TOGO.

Hello Friend,

With great pleasure I am writing this proposal to you and i apologize for
any inconvenience it might cause you. However, your email contact was
secured through my search in the internet for a reliable and capable hand to
handle a transaction of this magnitude and i became aware of your
credibility and integrity. Due to the sensitivity of this transaction and my
commitment as a banker, i urge for your consent in this great opportunity.

I am Mr Allison owen, the head of auditing and accounting section of Gordon
Bank Plc Lome-Togo in West Africa. We had a foreign customer, physician by
profession and an owner of a cadbury manufacturing Company here in Lome
Togo. Eventually,he died on 26th December 2004 in Tsunami that happened in
Sumatra island Indonesia while on a vacation, he had deposited a huge sum of
$9.5M (Nine million five hundred thousand USD) which no other person knows
about because this is a situation I have monitored closely with my position
in the Bank and having monitored this deposit and yet nobody has showed up
as the next of kin since after his death,The person he used as his next of
kin was his 17 year old son who died along side with the family.

The request of a foreigner as the next of Kin in this business is occasioned
by the fact that the customer was a foreigner. This is why I have contacted
you to render assistance in repatriating the money left behind by this man
before it will be confiscated or declared unserviceable by this Bank. With
my position in the bank, i am in possession of every information our bank
here will need to transfer this fund to you which shows the entire
transaction between the deceased and our bank here in relation to this fund
deposit.

I want this money to be transferred into a safe account abroad after which
we will share the proceeds but I don't know any foreigner, I am only
contacting you as a foreigner because this money can not be approved to a
local person here in my country (Togolaise). My constraint is to be able to
source a foreign partner who is honest and trustworthy, that will act as a
Trustee and willing to assist me in this transaction morally and financially
and you will be entitled to 40% of the total sum as gratification, while 10%
will be set aside to take care of expenses that may arise during the time of
transfer and also telephone bills, while 50% will be for me. This
transaction is 100% risk free provided you treat it with utmost secrecy and
confidentiality as it requires. I guarantee you that the entire transaction
will be executed under a legitimate arrangement that will protect you from
any breach of the law both in your country.

My intention of writing you through email is because i believe it is very
confidential and personal. Hoping that you will understand and assist
effectively for the success of this transaction and looking forward to
hearing from you. Though this approach appears desperate but i can assure
you that whatever questions you would need to ask or any other details you
will need to know regarding this proposal will be adequately answered to
give you on a clearer understanding of it so as to arrive at a successful
conclusion. Waiting for your prompt response.

Best Regards,
Mr Allison owen.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam