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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:

• 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 sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
  • "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)
  • "is highly confidential" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a scam)
  • "is 100% risk free" (almost true for the criminal - arrests of online criminals are rare)
• This email message is a next of kin scam.
• 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.
  • +27782326694 (South Africa, 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.
  • marthins_tambo@yahoo.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: Marthins Tambo <marthins_tambo0001@hotmail.com>
Date: Mon, 19 Nov 2007 12:17:02 +0200
Subject: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY.



Auditor General,
ABSA Bank Limited.Johannesburg,South Africa .
Dear Sir/Madam,
This letter is not intending to cause you any embarrassment in what ever form, rather an appeal for assistance. Am the Auditor General of Amalgameted Bank of South Africa (ABSA) in Gauteng, South Africa.

I have decided to send forth this proposal to you after some due liberation in my Amalgameted Bank , Gauteng, South Africa.

Furthermore, I discovered an abandoned sum of US$ 25,000 000:00 (Twenty Five Million US Dollars Only) in an account that belong to one of our foreign customers (Dr. Mohamed Galal) a citizen of Saudi Arabia, who lost his life aboard Egypt Air Flight 990,which crashed into the Atlantic Ocean on October 31,1999.View this website;(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/502503.stm ) .Since I got the information about his death, I have been expecting his next of kin to come over and claim his money, because we can not release this fund unless his next of kin applies for it or relation to the deceased as indicated in our banking guidelines.
Unfortunately, nobody has come forward to claim this money. Based on this, I have decided to establish a cordial business relationship with you, hence my contacting You
At this juncture, I want you to stand as the next of kin to claim this fund .I will manipulate and authenticate the payment to your name and I am reassuring you that it is 100% risk free transaction and legitimate because all the necessary arrangements have been made and finalized here.

Finally, I have agreed to give you 35% of the total fund due to your assistance, 5% to be set aside for expenses made by both parties while the remaining 60% will be for my investment in your country after the transfer of the fund to your designated bank account. Please if satisfied with this proposal, kindly notify me by telephone or send me an email on my private email address including your private telephone and fax numbers, so that I can furnish you with more details on how the transaction will be done and you will be with me in person in South Africa, before the fund arrives in your country, Please note that this is highly confidential and should be treated urgently,kindly give me a call on my private telephone number:+27-782326694 for further details and clarifications.

Best regards,
Dr.Marthins T. Khumalo.
Email: marthins_tambo@yahoo.com (private email)
_________________________________________________________________
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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam