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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
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• 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:
  • "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
  • "here in london united kingdom" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • ",500,000" (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)
  • "00,000.00" (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)
  • "barrister" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
• This email message is a next of kin scam.
• Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.
• 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.
  • irwinmitchell@sify.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "Barrister Irwin Mitchell" <mail@sybonlie.com>
Date: Tue, 22 Jul 2008 16:01:38 +0100
Subject: Dear Sir/Madam


Dear Sir/Madam,

I am Barrister Irwin Mitchell of london United Kindom and I am the personal attorney to late Mr Chung, who was an oil merchant and oil service contractor in richest ashland oil petroleum development company here in London United Kingdom. who lost his life in an air crash involving a Korean Airline Boeing 747-300 Flight number 801 on August 5, 1997 in which 227 passengers out of 231 including crew lost their lives during one of his business trips to Korea.you can verify this accident in following the website

http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9708/06/korean.crash/.

Before the sudden death of late Mr Chung, in the ill-fated airplane,he opened a pounds sterling account with one back here into which he deposited GBP5,500,000.00 with no indication of his next of kins.Following this unfortunate incident,the bank has issued me a notice to provide the Next of kin, or have the account confiscated and all efforts that I have made so far to locate any member of the family was unsuccessfull,that is why I want you to Re-present as next of kin to the deceased since he never introduced any nor wrote his WILL in favour of any bodies name before the accident.

The purpose of contacting you is to present you as the Next of kin of the deceased so that the proceeds of this account valued of GBP5,500,000.00 can be paid to you, as my clients Next of Kin, and then we can share the amount on a mutual agreed percentage, because if no one comes forward to claim the money,the bank will confiscate the account and convert it to its own use.

Contact me through my private E-mail:irwinmitchell@sify.com

If you are interested,contact me by return mail as I shall give you details of how we will proceed including terms of sharing the money.

Have a blessed day.

Best Regards,

Barrister Irwin Mitchell

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam