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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:
  1 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
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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:
  • "huge deposit" (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 "dying merchant" scam.

Fraud email example:

From: "David Weir" <daveweir2003@hotmail.com>
Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2007 17:41:15 +0600
Subject: Charity Gifts

Greetings.

As you read this, don't feel sorry for me, because it is the destiny of
everyman to die someday. I am Mr. David Weir a business merchant in the
United Kingdom. I have been diagnosed with esophageal cancer. It has defiled
all forms of treatment, and right now I have only about a few months to
live, according to medical experts.
I regret that I have not particularly lived my life so well, as I never
really cared for anyone (not even myself), but my trade. Though I am
fortunate to be very well to do, I was never open handed; I was always
hostile to people and regarded them like they never had hopes of becoming as
successful as myself.
Now I know that there is a lot more to life than just prosperity.

I believe that when I am given a second chance to come to this world, I
would live my life a different way from how I have lived it. Now that death
is eminent, I have willed and given most of my belonging to immediate and
extended family members, as well as a few close friends.
I want god to be merciful to me and accept my soul. Hence I have decided
to support charity work; this is what i want to be remembered for. So far, I
have been able to reach out to charity organizations here in the U.K and a
few in U.A.E, Algeria and Malaysia. Now that my health has deteriorated so
badly, I cannot do this myself anymore.

I once asked members of my family to aid me in giving of alms to those
organizations catering for the less privileged in Bulgaria and Pakistan; but
they refused and kept the resources to themselves. I have come to a point
where i have decided to not trust them anymore, as they seem not to be
contented with what I have left for them.
The last of my belonging which no one knows of, is the huge deposit of
eigteen milion US dollars that I have in a safe keeping company, which I
will want you to secure and bestow to charity organizations.

Please endaevour to reply me on my confidential email address of
daveweir2003@aol.com for intimacy to this effect. For your time and
devotion, I have set aside a tenth of this for you.

Best regards,
David Weir.
daveweir2003@aol.com

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam