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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:

• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "sani abacha" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
• This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
  

Fraud email example:

From: "Cynthia Wood" <cynthia_wood102@msn.com>
Reply-To: cynth_wood_1000@yahoo.com
Date: Tue, 31 Jan 2006 02:46:48 +0000
Subject: Urgent and Confidential

Lloyds TSB Group plc
25 Gresham Street
London EC2V 7HN

Hello.

I am Cynthia Wood, a lady accountant with a bank Lloyds TSB Group plc here
in London. There is a fixed
deposit of £150,000,000.00 (One Hundred and Fifty Million Pounds
Sterling) made to this bank since 1994 which ten years now and since
then no claim or withdrawal have been made on that deposit.
Fortunately, I have been the person working the interest from the day
of deposit to date. The interesting part of it is that the fixed
deposit belongs to the late Nigerian dictator General Sani Abacha, this
means that the account may have been abandoned by the surviving family
members or that they are not even aware of the existence of the
deposit.
However, I just finished updating the interest of the deposit this
january, and it has come up to £105,000,000.00 at the 7% interest rate
per annum. It is this interest that I am interested in because I know
very well that the family will care less on what happens to the
interest if they want to redeem the deposit, they will be interested
on the main money, that is if they are able to claim it at all because
all the money lodged into different banks here in Europe and United
States are now been claimed by the Nigerian government.
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3333557.stm>
Meanwhile, my plan is to withdraw just some amount from the
accumulated interest, which will not even affect the main fixed
deposit. I will give you the details of procedure and my full ID when
I receive your reply and indication of partnership. Your reward and amount
to withdraw will be our mutual agreement to avoid any misunderstanding.
We have nothing to lose, we only need courage to do this.

Sincerely yours,

Cynthia Wood.

Group Finance Director
Lloyds bank London.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam