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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
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• 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:
  • "your urgent reply" (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 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.
  • +27732496787 (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.
  • mrsthomas0108@yahoo.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
  • mrsthomas0108@yahoo.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "Grace Thomas" <gthomas0101@hotmail.com>
Date: Fri, 07 Apr 2006 06:50:22 +0000
Subject: From: Mrs.Grace Thomas.

From: Mrs.Grace Thomas.
No.16 Milford Street, Sandston.
Johannesburg; South Africa.
Phone: +27-73-249-6787
Alternative e-mail: mrsthomas0108@yahoo.com

Greeting!

Probably you may be surprised to receive this letter from me hence you do
not know me personally. But for the need of introducing myself, I am Mrs.
Grace Thomas the wife of late Mr. Johnson Thomas, who was murdered during
the land reform dispute in Zimbabwe. Considering the surprise which my
letter may cause you, I want you to be rest assured that your contact was
made possible to me through the Internet business directory in Johannesburg,
hence I decided to solicit for your assistance.

Before my husband was killed, he have the sum of US$7.6MILLION (Seven
Million Six Hundred Thousand United States Dollars), which he deposited with
a private security and finance Company in Nelspruit,South Africa. He
deposited the money as personal valuables belonging to his foreign business
partner to avoid eyebrows from the Security Company. The money was meant for
the purchases of new machines and chemicals as he intended to relocate his
farming business to Swaziland because of the new land reform act placed upon
farmers in Zimbabwe.

The land problem occurred when the Zimbabwean President MR. ROBERT MUGABE
introduced a new Land Reform Act, which affected all the rich white farmers
and some opposition black farmers, and it resulted to killings and mob
action by the Zimbabwean war veterans and some lunatics in the society. In
fact, lots of people were killed for which my husband was one of the
victims. It is against this background that, my son and I decided to escape
to South Africa where we are presently residing as Asylum seekers(Refugees).
Now I am saddled with the responsibility of seeking for a reliable and
trustworthy foreign partner who can provide me with a reliable bank account
where we could transfer the money. You will also help me to invest the fund
into a profitable business in your country. And for your honest and
trustworthy assistance, I will offer you 20% of the total funds, in other
words, I can go into partnership with you for any investment carried out
with the money in your country.

Please I want you to know and understand the reason why I have decided to
transfer the fund out of South Africa to your country. In the first place, I
intended to invest the fund here in South Africa, but unfortunately, the
South African Financial law does not permit asylum seekers to operate a bank
account or to be engaged in Real Estate and Company Shares investments.
Secondly, I am afriad of the close distance between Zimbabwe and South
Africa hence I realized that most part of the money belongs to the Zimbabwe
Farmers Union although the Union has been dismantled after some of the
members were killed. But hence I am not allowed to operate a bank account
due to my status as an asylum seeker in South Africa, I have no other
alternative than to relocate the fund to another country where I can have a
free investment opportunity and where there is not much strict laws against
refugees. And I hope I can be able to invest the money freely in your
country.

If you are capable and willing to assist me, please do not hesitate to
contact me immediately, through my alternative e-mail at
<mrsthomas0108@yahoo.com> or you can call me directly on my son's hand
telephone number. +27-73-249-6787. Finally, I would appreciate you treat
this matter as quickly as possible because all the modalities for the
transfer of the fund has already been made.

Thanks as I look forward your urgent reply.

Best Regards,

Mrs.Grace Thomas.

_________________________________________________________________
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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam