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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
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• 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:
  • "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • "insurance fee " (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. Never ever send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally. )
  • "clearance certificate" (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. Never ever send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally. )
  • "courier company" (Courier companies mentioned in 419 scams are always fake. They will have you send money to them, but won't deliver anything. )
  • "cotonou" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
  • "cheque " (Beware of any scheme that involves cashing checks or money orders and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere - you'll be liable for the entire amount if the checks or money orders turn out to be fake, even after you have received and forwarded cash. If it's a lottery prize, remember that real lotteries do not pay large prizes by check. They wire the money directly to your bank account and you do not pay for that. Many scammers promise a large check only in order to then demand payment of courier fees for a fake courier service. )
• This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
  
• Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.
• 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.
  • apexcourier.anddeliverycompany@yahoo.fr

Fraud email example:

From: "BARRISTER PASTOR JOHN FEU" <johnfeu2@email.bg>
Date: Sat, 15 Dec 2007 15:17:20 +0200
Subject: CONTACT APESS COURIER AND SECURITY COMPANY IMMEDIATELY.


(HILL &amp; COUNSELORS AT LAW)06 BP 1409 AKPAKPA DODOMEYCOTONOU REPUBLIC OF
BENIN.Dear Friend,Greetings to you &amp; your Family.I have been waiting for
you since to contact me for your Confirmable Bank Draft of ($1.2m) United
States &nbsp;Dollars, but I did not hear from you since that time ,Then I went
and deposited the Draft with&nbsp; Apess Courier Delievery Company
,Cotonou,Benin Republic, before I travelled out of the country for a short
Course and i &nbsp;will not come back till end of next Month.What you have to
do now is to &nbsp;contact the Apess Courier Delievery Company as soon as
possible to know when they will deliver your package to you because of the
expiringdate.For your information, I have paid for the delivering Charges,
Insurance fee and Clearance Certificate Fee of the Cheque showing that it is
not a Drug Money nor to sponsor Terrorist attack in your Country,The onlymoney
you will send to the Courier &amp; Security Company to deliver your Draft
direct to your postal Address in your country is ($98) only being their
Security Keeping Fee of the Courier Company so far.Again, Do not be&nbsp;
deceive by anybody to pay any other money except $98.00,I would have paid that
but they said no because they don't know when you will contact them and in
case of demurrage.You have to contact the Apess &nbsp;Courier Delievery
Company now for the delivery of your Draft with this &nbsp;information bellow.
Apess Courier Delievery Company Benin Republic.E-mail:
(apexcourier.anddeliverycompany@yahoo.fr)Registration Reference No;
wwdsc/xxx/100Code Number:xxxdcsc/6545Finally, make sure that you reconfirm
your Postal address and Direct &nbsp;telephone number to them again to avoid
any mistake on the Delivery and &nbsp;Let me repeat again,try to contact them
as soon as you receive thismail to avoid any further delay and remember to pay
them their &nbsp;Security Keeping fee of $98 for their immediate action.You
should also Let me know through email as soon as you receive your Draft.Note.
Apess courier delievery company do not know the contents of the &nbsp;parcel.I
registered it as&nbsp; my photograph (pix) being sent to a friend
&nbsp;overseas. They do not know that it contains a bank draft of such a
hugeamount of money.this is to avoid them tempering with the parkage. Do not
let them know know the contents.i am waiting to hear the good news &nbsp;from
you.Regards,Barrister (Pastor).John Feu.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam