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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:

• 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:
  • "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
• This email message is a next of kin scam.
• 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.
  • helen_kate_walter@yahoo.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "helen walter" <helen_kate_walter@yahoo.com> (may be fake)
Date: Wed, 5 Dec 2007 05:08:23 +0000
Subject: LOOKING FORWARD TO HEAR FROM YOU

Dear Sir/Madam,
First and foremost I would like to apologize for infringing on your privacy by sending you an unsolicited email, I decided to contact you via an email to get us acquainted since it is a safer way of private communication. If you must know, I came about your contact information through a chamber of commerce and industry directory on the Internet

I am Helen Walter, 25 years old girl and the only daughter to the former rebel leader in Angola who was killed during the Angolan crisis by the opposition group.
I am now residing in Banjul, The Gambia as a refugee and my father before his untimely death left behind a box containing physical cash Which he safely deposited in a security vault during his regime in the office and now I need a foreign business man or woman who may stand as my guardian and benefactor to this fund by acting as my father foreign partner so that I can retrieve the money from the security company and transfer it to the person's foreign bank account for safe keeping and proper investment to secure my future.

Firstly, before I will disclose the said amount to you, I must solicit your strictest confidence in this transaction. This is by virtue of its nature as being utterly confidential. I am sure and have confidence of your ability and reliability to prosecute a transaction of this great magnitude. I solicit your assistance to enable us transfer the said amount into your safe account for onward investment. You can either provide us with an existing account or to set up a new bank account immediately to receive this money, even an empty bank account can serve to receive this money, as long as you will remain honest to me till the end for this important business trusting in you and believing that you will never let me down either now or in future.
As soon as I hear from you, and upon your strong assurance that you will not let me down once the fund goes into your account I will then start to process the transfer of the fund to your account without further delay.
If interested contact me urgently for further details.
helen_kate_walter@yahoo.com

Yours Faithfully,

Helen Walter.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam