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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:
  • "huge sum of money" (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)
  • "contact me immediately" (they are rushing you so you don't have time to think properly)
• 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.
  • ronaldburt@gawab.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "RONALD ELWOOD" <ronaldelwood@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: ronaldburt@gawab.com
Date: Mon, 30 Oct 2006 14:33:30 +0000
Subject: From: RONALD ELWOOD BURT

From: RONALD ELWOOD BURT
HSBC Holdings plc
8 Canada Square
London E14 5HQ
Attention: Sir/Madam,

PRIVATE AND URGENT.

I feel quite safe dealing with you in this business proposition having
gone through your remarkable profile on the Internet. Though, this medium
(Internet) has been greatly abused, I choose to reach you through it
because it still remains the fastest, surest and most secured medium of
communication. My name is RONALD ELWOOD; I am the credit manager in a
bank here in the United Kingdom.
I am contacting you of a business transfer, of a huge sum of money from
a deceased account. Though I know that a transaction of this magnitude
will make any one apprehensive and worried, but I am assuring you that
everything has been taken care off, and all will be well at the end of the
day. I
decided to contact you due to the urgency of this transaction.
PROPOSITION:
I am the account officer of a foreigner named Gerald Welsh who died in
an earthquake and tsunami-ravaged Indonesian province of Aceh along with
his wife and entire family in December 26 2004 you can confirm this from
the published by CNN. Since his death, none of his next-of-kin are alive to
make claims for this money as his heir, because they all died in the same
earthquake and tsunami-ravaged (May their soul rest in peace).We cannot
release the funds from his account unless someone applies for claim as
the next-of-kin to the deceased as indicated in our banking guidelines.Upon
this discovery, I now seek your permission to have you stand as a next of
kin to the deceased, as all documentations will be carefully worked out by
me
for the funds (US$5,000,000.00) to be released in your favour as the
beneficiary's next of kin. It may interest you to know that we have
secured from the probate an order of mandamus to locate any of the deceased
beneficiaries. Please acknowledge receipt of this message in acceptance
of our mutual business endeavor by furnishing me with the following
information if you are interested. 1.A Beneficiary name, and complete postal
address. In order for me to prepare the documents for transfer of the funds
in your
name. 2. Direct Telephone and fax numbers...For our personal contact
and mutual trust in each other, for more confidentiality and trust. I am
willing to offer you a million dollars ($1Million dollars) of the total
funds
if you can assist me transfer the funds to your country or any Bank of your
wish, while the balance $4 Million dollars shall be for me for investment
purposes. If this proposal is acceptable by you, please endeavour to
contact me immediately. I also wish to invest in a stable economy. My
interest
is in companies with potentials for rapid growth in long terms. I am
interested in placing part of the funds in your company, if your country’s
bi-laws
allow foreign investment. Do not take undue advantage of the trust I have
bestowed in you, I await your urgent mail to my personal e-mail address:
[ronaldburt@gawab.com]

Yours sincerely,
RONALD ELWOOD BURT

_________________________________________________________________
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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam