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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
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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:
  • "million us 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)
  • "foreign remittance department" (Banks mentioned in 419 scams are always fake (real banks don't communicate using mobile phones or free webmail addresses))
  • "lagos" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
• This email message is a next of kin 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.
  • michaelnweze2005@yahoo.fr

Fraud email example:

From: "Mike Eze" <mikeeze102001@hotmail.com>
Date: Wed, 11 Jan 2006 12:35:22 +0000
Subject: MY DEAREST ONE URGENT REPLY NEEDED

FROM MR MIKE EZE.
CITIZENS INTERNATIONAL BANK .
LAGOS NIGERIA .
Dear friend,
I am Mr mike Eze, CITIZENS INTERNATIONAL BANK LAGOS.NIGERIA. I am the
Operations Officer, BILL AND EXCHANGE of THE FOREIGN REMITTANCE DEPARTMENT
OF CITIZENS INTERNATIONAL BANK LTD.,LAGOS.NIGERIA. I am writing to you,
following the impressive information about your profile through the
Website,and I believe in your capability and reliability to champion this
opportunity. In my department, we discovered an abandoned sum of 18 million
US dollars (eighteen million US dollars) in an account that belongs to one
of our foreign customers who died along with his entire family in
September,1997 in a plane crash. Since we got information about his death,
we have been expecting his next of Kin to come over and claim his money
because we can not release it unless some body applies for it as next of Kin
or relative to the deceased as indicated in our banking and financial
policies but unfortunately we learnt that his supposed next of kin or
relation died with him in the accident leaving nobody behind to claim the
money. It is therefore upon this discovery that I and other officials in my
department now decided to make this business proposal to you and release the
money to you as the next of kin or relation to the deceased for safety and
subsequent disbursement since nobody is coming for it and we dont want this
money to go into the Bank treasury as unclaimed bills
.
The Banking law and guide line here stipulates that if such money remained
unclaimed after five years, the money will be transferred into the Bank
treasury as unclaimed fund. The request for a foreigner as next of kin in
this business is occasioned by the fact that the customer was a foreigner
and an indigene cannot stand as next of kin to the deceased family. We
agreed that 40% of this money will be for you as foreign partner, in respect
to the provision of a foreign account, 5% will be set aside for expenses
incurred during this transaction and 55 % would be for me and my colleagues.
Thereafter,I and my colleagues will visit your country for disbursement
according to the percentages indicated.Therefore, to enhance the immediate
transfer of thisfund to you as arranged,you must apply first to the Bank as
relation or next of kin of the deceased indicating your private, telephone
and fax number for easy and effective communication and location where the
money will be remitted. Upon receipt of your reply, I will send to you by
faxor e-mail the text of the application.I will not fail to bring to your
notice that this transaction is hitch free and that you should not entertain
any atom of fear as all required arrangements have been made for the
transfer. my private e-mail michaelnweze2005@yahoo.fr, as soon as you
receive this letter
.
I decided to contact you as you have products of interest in your part of
the world where we can invest our own percentage to avoid peoples
awarenessas we are civil servants. Note that we can conclude this operation
within ten banking days.Please keep this very confidential for obvious
security reasons. Contact me for more information, all confirmable before
you apply if you want. Trusting to hear from you shortly for a detailed
information which are confirmable before you can makeup your mind to
apply.If however,you are not interested,do let me know by returm maill too
as I will not contact anybody else until I hear from you.please reply this
proposal through mailbox May God be with you.

Yours faithfully,
Mr mike Eze.


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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam