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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:
  • "your urgent reply" (they are rushing you so you don't have time to think properly)
  • "i got your email address from " (this SPAM email was probably sent to thousands of people)
• This email message is a "dying widow" scam.

Fraud email example:

From: susan smith <smithxx7@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: <susansmithx3@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Thu, 23 Aug 2007 13:36:46 +0100
Subject: widows mind




Dear Beloved Friend,

Let me first of all inform you, I got your email address from a mail Directory and decided to mail you for a permission to go ahead. I am Mrs. Susan Smith married to Mr. Richard Smith from Kenya who worked with a construction company in Asia for twenty Years before he died in the tsunami disasters, we were married but without Any children. Since his death I decided not to remarry and presently I am 69 Years old. When my late husband was Alive he deposited the sum of $22.5M. (twenty two Million five hundred thousand U.S. Dollars) with a Bank.

Presently this money is still with the Bank and the management just wrote me as the beneficiary to come forward to receive the money or rather Issue a letter of authorization to somebody to receive it on my behalf if I cannot come over. I am presently in a hospital where I have been undergoing treatment kidney problem in a hospital, I have since lost my ability to talk and my doctors have told me that I have only a few months to live. I want a person that is trustworthy that will utilize this money to fund churches, orphanages and widows around the world but in my name Mrs. Susan Smith Foundation. For your kind assistance 40% of the total fund will be yours, while 60% will be for the project.

As soon as I receive your reply I shall give you the contact of the Bank. I will also issue you a letter of authority that will prove you as the new beneficiary of this fund. Please assure me that you will act accordingly as I stated here in and Keep this contact confidential till such a time this funds get to your Custody. This is to ensure that nothing jeopardizes my last wish on Earth.

I await your urgent reply.

God Bless You,

Mrs. Susan Smith
_________________________________________________________________
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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam