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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
  (+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:
  • "a security company " (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. )
  • "the consignment" (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)
  • "hundred thousand us dollars" (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 widow" 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.
  • mrs.fatou@yahoo.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: mrs.fatou@volny.cz (may be fake)
Date: Sat, 08 Mar 2008 17:57:06 +0100 (CET)
Subject: From Mrs Fatou Mbaye Sankoh.

From Mrs Fatou Mbaye Sankoh.

Good Day,

I am Mrs Fatou Mbaye Sankoh the wife of Mr Foday Saybana Sankoh who was
the leader and founder of the Sierra Leone rebel group Revolutionary
United Front (RUF) in the 10-year-long Sierra Leone Civil War. View
this site for more details: http://www.sc-sl.org/ruf.html, view this
site for more details http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foday_Sankoh,

I am married to Mr Foday Saybana Sankoh for three(3) years without a
child, But i had a son 17years back before i married to Mr Sankoh. My
husband was arrested by the UN Troops and keep in the UN hospital costudy
where he detained. While he was in the costudy of UN He reveal to me
that he deposited the sum $10.5 (ten million And Five hundred thousand
US dollars) with a Security company which he wanted to use for his
political affair after the war, unfortunately he died in the UN costudy
on 29 july, 2003. view this site for more details http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/752746.stm.

I have contacted the security company where the money is deposited and
the company demanded for my late husband's foreign associate as my husband
told them during the time he deposited the fund in the security company.
Presently, I am in a critical condition in the hospital and my Doctor
has confirmed that i have few months to live. Why I contacted you is
because i want you to help me stand as my late husband's associate inother
to invest this our only remaining inheritance sum into any business
or investment that you knows too well in your country and to help my
only son to complete his education.

If you are willing to assist me i want you to send to me your full personal
contact details, so that i will submit it to the security company and
also introduce you to the company as my late husband's foreign associate
who is to receive the consignment deposited in their costudy. I want
you to promise me that you will not betray me after the security company
might have released the fund to you as my late husband's foreign associate.

As soon as i receive your personal contact details, then i will send
to you all the necessary deposit documents and also introduce you to
the company as my late husband's foreign associate and you will contact
the company for the transfering of the money to you as my late husband's
foreign beneficiary.

Contact me through this email: mrs.fatou@yahoo.com
Best regard.
Mrs Fatou Sankoh.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam