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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:
  • "necessary legal documents" (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. )
  • ",500,000" (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)
  • "00,000.00" (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.
• This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
  • +447045707523 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
• 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.
  • peterrandyy15@yahoo.co.uk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: =?us-ascii?Q?Peter=20Anderson?= <hihinka@seznam.cz>
Date: Wed, 09 Jan 2008 20:09:58 +0100 (CET)
Subject: =?us-ascii?Q?Good=20day?=

I am Peter Anderson, a lawyer from Europe and a personal solicitor to the late Mr. John Cuthbertson, (hereinafter referred to as my client an expatriate and an oil/mining contractor who used to work in my country back in London as an Engineering Consultant with UK Mining Corporation.

On the 31st of January 2000, my client died from an air crash aboard Alaska Airline flight 261 that crashed into the Pacific Ocean on January 31, 2000. (http://archives.cnn.com/2000/US/02/01/alaska.airlines.list/index.html). My client used to be a close friend of my late father who also died four years ago. Shortly, before my client death, he had instructed me to prepare his WILL but without a named beneficiary yet. He had already signed the WILL and was contemplating on whom to make the beneficiary since he had no wife nor children before he died from air crash. Since that unfortunate incident, I have made several enquiries to locate any of my client's relatives to facilitate repatriation of his estate from Africa. My efforts up till date proved unsuccessful.

Before his death my client had a total sum of US$7,500,000.00 with a Finance House with the hope of transferring the fund to his country after his retirement but he never lived to carry out this plans.

I seek your consent to present you as the next of kin of the deceased. I agree to pay you 40% of the fund as the account owner, 60% would be for me. I have all necessary legal documents that can be used to back up any claim we may make.

So please if you are interested in doing this with me respond to me via my personal email: peterrandyy15@yahoo.co.uk, so we can discuss more on this. I do look forward to your prompt response.

Best regards,
Peter Anderson
Tel.: +447045707523

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam