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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:
  • "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • "hundred thousand united states 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)
  • "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)
  • "my direct telephone number" (a "direct line" in a scam usually means an untraceable mobile phone number used by a scammer in an internet cafe, a redirection service number that forwards to a mobile or a free voicemailbox in a different country.)
• 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.
  • +221777089783 (Senegal, probably a prepaid mobile phone)
• 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.
  • mikediop@email.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "Michael Diop" <mcldiop43@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 7 Jul 2008 11:30:54 +0000
Subject: hello


Dear friend,

I am making this contact with you based on trust and confidence I have for
you irrespective of the fact that we have not met before and because of the
nature of the business I am about to introduce to you. I want to remain
positive having the faith, the will and convincing myself that you will be
interested and capable to do business with me. This business proposal I am
intimating you with is of mutual benefit which success depends entirely on
mutual trust, cooperation and a high level confidentiality.

My name is Mr. Michael Diop, the confidential nature of this financial
transaction makes it imperative for me to contact you directly by email. An
American, a late business magnate Mr. John Schelpert, until his death years
ago aboard Egypt Air Flight 990, which crashed into the Atlantic Ocean on
October 31, 1999. To see the details of this plane crash, please click on
the (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/502503.stm). Late Mr.John
Schelpert has a fixed deposit of US$14,900,000.00 (Fourteen Million Nine
Hundred Thousand United States Dollars) made in a Senegalese bank for
purpose of investment in west African sub region before his untimely death,
since 1999 and since then no claim have been made on that deposit.

Fortunately, I have been the person in charge of this deposit from the day
of deposit to date. This great late business magnate died without a written
or oral ' WILL' attached to the account with respect to his investment in
Real Estate Company. It is because of the perceived possibility of not being
able to locate any of his next of kin that I rapidly took the precaution of
converting this fund worth US$14,900,000.00 Dollars to the [open secure
programme] and deposited it with OPEN BENEFICARY-which allows anybody or
person that has accurate information to the deposit can lay claim to it. The
Governing Body of the Bank here in Dakar has contacted me on this matter and
I am yet to provide the Next of Kin to lay a claim to the Fund. Under a
clear and legitimate agreement with you, I shall seek your consent to be
presented as the next of Kin without any risk involved so that my late
Client's Fund will not be confiscated by the Government.

For your sincere and honest commitments in this transaction, I am willing to
let you keep 50% of this fund for your assistance while I also keep 50%.
Your are free to make immediate contact with me through my private email
address (mikediop@email.com) or on the alternative, call my direct telephone
number: +221 777089783 for further information related to this matter.

Thank you very much for your anticipated acceptance while I expect your
prompt response.

Yours respectively,

Mr. Michael Diop
+221 777089783

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam