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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:
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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:
  • "cost of transfer" (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. )
  • "contact me immediately" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
  • "foreign remittance department" (Banks mentioned in 419 scams are always fake (real banks don't communicate using mobile phones or free webmail addresses))
• This email message is a next of kin scam.

Fraud email example:

From: Grace William <gracewilliam20@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: gracewilliam10@myway.com
Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2009 22:52:18 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: how are you ????


attention : Dearest ,
I make this appeal with the understanding that any
facts or opinion expressed by me are giving in confidence and solely for
your personal information and use.I am Mrs. Grace Williams, the manager of
bill and exchange at the foreign remittance department of my Bank. In my
department I discovered an abandoned sum of (Eight Million, Five Hundred
Thousand US  Dollars) with account number 0101-001-73914682-28 that
belongs to one of our foreign customers who died along with his wife and only daughter in a plane crash of Alaska Airlines Flight number 261 which crashed on 31 January, 2000. You shall read more about the crash on visiting this site http://www.cnn.com/2000/US/02 /01/alaska.airlines.list/  the owner of this account is Mr. Morris Thompson an American and great industrialist
and a resident of Alaska.It is therefore upon this discovery that I now decided to make this business proposal to you and for our bank to release the money to you. You have to follow the instruction which I will send to you

as the next of kin or relation to the deceased for safety and subsequent disbursement since nobody is coming for it and I don't want this money to go into our bank treasury as unclaimed bill.In appreciation of your assistance, I am offering you 35 percent of the total sum. 5percent for contingencies cost of transfer/other charges likely to be incurred during
the course of transaction, while the remaining 60percent is for me.Upon receipt of your reply, I will send to you by fax or email the text of the application which you will complete and forward to our bank asking for this money to be paid to you as the next of kin to Mr. Morris Thomson. I will not fail to bring to your notice that this transaction is hitch-free and that
you should not entertain any fear as all required arrangements have been made for the transfer.You should contact me immediately as soon as you receive this mail
 Please do not hesitate to contact me immediatel should you consider my urgent request.

 Yours Faithfully,

 Dr. Mrs. Grace Williams

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam