419 scam: "Mr. Steven Anderson"<test@perfectcv.net> Dear Sir/Madam,

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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:
- "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
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.
- stevenand40@yahoo.com.hk (Yahoo, Hong Kong; can be used from anywhere worldwide)

Fraud email example:

From: "Mr. Steven Anderson" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <stevenand40@yahoo.com.hk>
Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2011 23:46:57 +0100
Subject: Dear Sir/Madam,

Dear Sir/Madam,

Your payment is ready to be paid to you as soon as you can confirm the below to me, i am not suppose to tell you about the readiness of your payment that is why I am using this email to contact you, some corrupt officers in our organization/Federal
Government of Nigeria don’t want you to receive this funds, but if you can adhere to my advice i will make
sure you get paid.

Confirm the below to me;

1) Full name
2) Contact Address
3) Telephone and fax number

I will stop here and wait until you get back to me with the above,then i can give you more information.
You are therefore required to forward to us above information to enable the processing of your claim. Contact me on this email: stevenand40@yahoo.com.hk
Thanks,

Mr. Steven Anderson
United Nations
Head Delegate to
UK.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam