419 scam: "William Colgate II" <william@yahoo.com> Hello,

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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

The so-called "419" scam is a type of fraud dominated by criminals from Nigeria and other countries in Africa. Victims of the scam are promised a large amount of money, such as a lottery prize, inheritance, money sitting in some bank account, etc.

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.

Keep in mind that scammers DO NOT use their real names when defrauding people.
The criminals either abuse names of real people or companies or invent names or addresses.
Any real people or companies mentioned below have NO CONNECTION to the scammers!

Read more about such scams here or in our 419 FAQ. Use the Scam-O-Matic to verify suspect emails.

Click here to report a problem with this page.

Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

This email uses a separate reply address that is different from the sender address. Spammers use this to get replies even when the original spam sending accounts have been shut down. Also, sometimes the sender addresses are legitimate looking but fake and only the reply address is actually an email account controlled by the scammers.
The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "hundred thousand united states 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)
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.
- +447045794839 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: "William Colgate II" <william@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: wcolgateiii@yahoo.com.hk
Date: Tue, 6 Jul 2010 11:30:15 -0500
Subject: Hello,

Hello,

I'm William Colgate II, a representative of Exxon Mobil in London
(http://www.exxonmobil.com). I have a sensitive and private brief from the
Senior Executives of this top oil company in need of your partnership to
re-profile funds amounting to US$12.2M (Twelve Million Two Hundred
Thousand United States Dollars). I will let you have the details, but in
summary, the fund would be paid to you through a Finance Company where it
is presently deposited as soon as the filing and documentation process is
concluded in your name.

This is a legitimate transaction without government interference and you
shall be compensated with 20% of the total sum, should you and your
company agrees to work with us.If you are interested, please reply for
further details.

Regards,

William Colgate II
+447045794839

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam