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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:
  1 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
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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 british pounds" (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)
  • ",000,000" (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)
  • "there is no risk involved" (almost true for the criminal - arrests of online criminals are rare)
  • "there are practically no risks involved" (almost true for the criminal - arrests of online criminals are rare)
  • "cotonou" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
• This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
  
• This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
  • +22998596832 (Benin, probably a prepaid mobile phone)
• 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.
  • hudsonjohn1@mailbox.co.za (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "Mr John Hudson" <johnhuson@colacao.es>
Reply-To: hudsonjohn1@mailbox.co.za
Date: Sat, 06 Dec 2008 01:43:13 +0100
Subject: PLEASE READ AND REPLY VERY URGENTLY.

PLEASE READ AND REPLY VERY URGENTLY.
From: MR. JOHN HUDSON
TEL+229 98 59 68 32
E-mail: hudsonjohn1@mailbox.co.za

Dear friend

Please in the name of God i ask for your little time to read this message
carefully to the excellency of our mutual benefit. So please read this
email very gently and tell me what you think, if we can transact it
together or not. And please after reading, if it does not interest you
please kindly delet the mail and keep the secret of what you red within
you.

My name is JOHN HUDSON, i am the Operations Manager of Continental Bank
Benin, Cotonou headquters Republic of Benin.. I got your information when
i was searching for an oversea partner among other names. I propose this
to you in good faith; I am 52 years old, an Ethiopian white based in
Benin Republic, married with four lovely kids.

I have a very important business which i would like to execute with you
which involves some reasonable amount of cash and no risk involve, i have
packaged a financial transaction that will benefit you and I, as the OPS
manager in this bank it is my duty to send in a financial report to my
headmen office in Potonovo at the end of each business year. On the
course of the last year business report, i discovered that we made FIVE
MILLION BRITISH POUNDS (5,000,000.00 GBPS) which our head office do not
know about, and no single staff is aware of this surplus extra cash and
will never be aware of it since i have wisely parckaged an arrangement to
move out the money for myself as i intend to retire from service soon. I
blinded the files. I have placed this funds in a temporary fixed suspense
account without a beneficiary's name and awaiting data, so that it would
be simply easy for anybody to claim peacefully.

As an officer of this bank I cannot be directly connected to this money,
so my aim of contacting you is for you to apply and stand as the
beneficiary to this money and order the bank to transfer it into your
account with immediate effect. As soon as you receive it in your bank
account, i agree that you will take 40% of the total funds as your
commission. There are practically no risks involved in this event, it
will be a bank-to-bank wire transfer, and all I need from you is to stand
claim as the original depositor of the fund who made the deposit with
this bank so that my head office can order the transfer to any of your
bank account that you shall indicated. I assure you that hence you apply
as the beneficiary of the fund it shall be vividly released to you.

If you accept to work with me I will appreciate it very much. Mail me
with this email address (hudsonjohn1@mailbox.co.za ) so that we can go
over the details and i will give you my full information and relay to you
more information on the money and explain to you how we should start the
claim. Remember there is no risk involved, i promise.

Thank you in advance and May God bless you and your family.
Yours truly
JOHN HUDSON
Operations Manager
Continetal Bank Benin
TEL+229 98 59 68 32

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam