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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:
  • "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • "you will be given 30%" (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)
• This email message is a next of kin scam.

Fraud email example:

From: stepen ozuma <stephenmail_02@yahoo.ca>
Reply-To: stephenmail01@yahoo.ca
Date: Mon, 9 Oct 2006 18:34:32 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Dear friend Urgent Reply.


Dear friend,

I know that this mail will come to you out of the blue as a total surprise. Well, I have a business proposal which I know might interest you. I believe that you would be in a position to assist me in my bid to transfer the sum of $10,500,000.00 (Ten million five hundred thousand US Dollar's) into a foreign bank account. So study the following account carefully and reply urgently.

I am Stephen Ozuma, an Auditor of a Bank here in Republic of Lome Togo. During the course of our auditing before i was retired, I discovered a floating fund in an account opened in the bank in 1999 and since 2000 nobody has operated on this account.After a lot of investigation I discovered that the owner of the bank account died without a beneficiary.The money is floating and if I do not remit this money out it will be forfeited for nothing. The owner of the account is Mr. Magnus Smith, a foreigner. He died since 2000 and the bank account has no other beneficiary. My investigation proved to me that nobody knows about this account or anything concerning it. So I want to grab this opportunity, as it is no harm to nobody.

I am here soliciting for your assistance as a foreigner because the money cannot be approved to anybody here. But It can be approved to a foreigner with valid international passport or drivers license and foreign bank account because the money at sake is in U.S.A Dollars and the former owner of the account is a foreigner.

The management must approve this payment to you if you have the correct information of this account, which I will give to you, upon your positive response and once I am convinced that you are capable and will meet up with instruction of key bank official who is deeply involved with me in this project. At the conclusion of this business, you will be given 30% of the total amount, 65% will be for the bank official and I, while 5% will be for expenses both parties might have incurred during the course of this transaction.

May I stop here. Reply urgently so that I will inform you the next step to take.

Best regards.

Stephen.




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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam