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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
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• Phone numbers used by 419 scammers
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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:
  • "any lucrative business in your country" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • ",000,000" (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)
  • "with absolute secrecy" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a scam)
  • "is 100% risk free" (almost true for the criminal - arrests of online criminals are rare)
  • "dormant account" (Banks mentioned in 419 scams are always fake (real banks don't communicate using mobile phones or free webmail addresses))
• 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.
  • mrpaulikem_55@yahoo.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "mrpaulikem21 Gazeta.pl" <mrpaulikem21@gazeta.pl>
Date: Thu, 26 Jun 2008 21:00:07 +0200
Subject: NEXT OF KIN.


From: Paul Ikem
Private Email: mrpaulikem_55@yahoo.com
Date: 26/06/2008
REF: Fund Inheritance


Hello,


I apologize if the contents hereunder are contrary to your moral ethics, but
please treat it with absolute secrecy and personal courtesy. I am Paul Ikem
an Auditor in a commercial Bank, in the process of auditing our bank
accounts this quarter, I and one of my colleagues recently discovered that
there is a dormant account valued at the sum £10,000,000.00 (Ten Million
British Pound Sterling) and after due verification of this account we
discovered that the account owner is late and that is why the account has
been dormant and as such a £10,000,000.00 has been lying in the bank
unclaimed.


The idea of presenting a foreigner to act as his next of kin came into our
mind, as you know the said deceased is a foreigner as well. Hence, that is
how and why we have contacted you to present you as his next of kin, so that
the £10,000,000.00 will be paid to you and we can both disburse the fund
according to the percentage we will agree upon.In view of this, I am seeking
for your co-operation and understanding to stand as the next of kin to our
deceased customer, to enable us claim the fund from my bank. Hence, if this
proposal is OK by you and you do not wish to take undue advantage of my
trust, then I hope to bestow on you. Please kindly get back to me
immediately only through my personal contact email; mrpaulikem_55@yahoo.com


On getting your response, we shall agree on the percentage ratio on which we
shall disburse the £10,000,000.00 between us, as we intend to invest part of
our own share in real estate or any lucrative business in your country, and
we would appreciate if you can put us in the right part where we can invest
our own share in your country. I will not contact any person or company
until I hear from you, so as to enable me decides on what to do next.

Be rest assured that this business is 100% risk free.


We wait for your prompt response.


Best Regards,
Paul Ikem.
Private Email: mrpaulikem_55@yahoo.com


NB: PLEASE NOTE THAT IT DOES NOT MATTER IF YOU ARE NOT RELATED TO MY LATE
CLIENT OR NOT; THE FUND WILL STILL BE PAID TO YOU, SINCE I AM PRESENTING YOU
AS HIS NEXT OF KIN.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam