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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
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• 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:

• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "necessary legal documents" (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. Never ever send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally. )
  • "is 100% risk free" (almost true for the criminal - arrests of online criminals are rare)
• This email message is a next of kin scam.

Fraud email example:

From: hooperEsq james <hoopj6_esq@q.com>
Reply-To: <jameshooper@in.com>
Date: Tue, 13 Jan 2009 18:28:48 +0000
Subject: Attention:



Attention:

I am james hooper, a legal practitioner and personal attorney to late
Engineer M.N Sulak. an international contractor in the oil industry
before his untimely demise on the 27th of September 2005 United
Kingdom.

Before his death, I assisted him in the deposit of some contract funds
valued at $22 million with a bank. The funds have remained unclaimed
since his death and such unclaimed funds are appropriated and returned
to the treasury after Six. years as a matter of banking policy.
Considering the lack of success in my bid to locate any of his
relatives for over 3years now,

I here by solicit your consent to enable me present you to the bank as
the beneficiary Next of Kin to y deceased client. I am contacting you
for two reasons because I strongly believe that the Bank does not
deserve to confiscate the funds and these reasons led to my resolve to
contact you to claim the funds.

Know that this deal is 100% risk free because I have in my possession
the personal file of the deceased which contains some of the
information we shall need to prove your legal relationship with my late
client,which means that the fund will definitely be paid into the
account of whoever I present to the bank as his next of kin. Moreover
this is a legal and risk free transaction that does not in anyway
hamper or contravene the monetary laws of your country because it is an
inheritance fund.

All I require from you is your assurance that my share of the funds
shall be held in trust for me when it is released into your account by
he bank. Be rest assured that the fund shall be released to you by the
bank upon presenting all the necessary legal documents that will be
used to substantiate whatever claim we make on your behalf at the bank.

On my receipt of your consenting reply, i shall give you a detailed
briefing on this proceedings.

I await your immediate response,i appeal to your sense of fairness,
Reply Urgently to: jameshooper@in.com
Regards,
james hooper Esq.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam