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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:

• 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 friend" (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)
  • "god fearing " (scammers in West Africa like to use religious phrases)
• 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.
  • mrsanitawillams12@yahoo.fr (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: anita willams <anitawillams7567548769879@msn.com>
Reply-To: <mrsanitawillams12@yahoo.fr>
Date: Tue, 24 Mar 2009 13:05:55 +0000
Subject: Dear Friend



Dear Friend

Greetings in the name of God,Pls let this not sound strange to you for my
only surviving lawyer who would have done this died early this year.

i prayed and got your email id from your country guestbook. I am MRS ANITA WILLAM from London,I am 58 years old,i am suffering from a long time cancer
of the lungs which also affected my brain,from all indication my
conditions is really deteriorating and it is quite obvious that, according
to my doctors they have advised me that i may not live for the next two
months,this is because the cancer stage has gotten to a very bad stage.

I was brought up from a motherless babies home was married to my late
husband for twenty years without a child,my husband died in a fatal motor
accident Before his death we were true believers.Since his death I decided
not to re-marry,I sold all my inherited belongings and deposited all the
sum of 10million dollars with a First Inland Bank.

Presently, this money is still with them and the management just wrote me
as the true owner to come forward to receive the money for keeping it so
long or rather issue a letter of authorization to somebody to receive it
on my behalf since I can not come over because of my illness or they get
it confisticated.

Presently, I'm with my laptop in a hospital here in Switzerland where I
have been undergoing treatment for cancer of the lungs. my doctors have
told me that I have only a few months to live.It is my last wish to see
that this money is invested to any organisation of your choice and
distributed each year among the charity organization,the poor and the
motherless babies home.

I want you as God fearing person, to also use this money to fund
church,mosque, orphanages and widows,I took this decision, before i rest
in peace because my time will so on be up.

As soon as I receive your reply I shall give you the contact of the First
Inland Bank.I will also issue you a letter of authority that will prove
you as the new beneficiary of my fund.

Please assure me that you will act accordingly as I stated herein. Hoping
to hear from you soon. NAME: __________SURNAME:__________________SEX:
_____ AGE: ______MARITAL: _______________COUNTRY: ______
CONTACT ADDRESS: ________________________PHONE NO#___________FAX
NO#_________________OCCUPATION:
waiting for you information

reply:me through this my private email

address:mrsanitawillams12@yahoo.fr

MRS. anita willam

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam