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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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• 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 sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
• 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.
  • goodlmartins_me@hotmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "Martins Gooodluck" <goodmar28@livedoor.com>
Reply-To: goodlmartins_me@hotmail.com
Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2008 03:23:18 +0100
Subject: MY FRIEND NEXT OF KIN


Dear Sir/Madam,

Compliment of the day.

I got your contact in course of my inquiry to locate relations of my
Deceased Friend who died in a car crash on the 13th February 2007. The
reason for this is to inherit a Contracts Payment Deposits Account of $15.5
million of which the Deceased left in a Finance Firm.

Consequently, having gone through to your profile on Internet, I want you to
please assist me to inherit the fund into your Account. This request emerged
last week when the Finance Firm contacted me for the attention of my
Deceases Friend (perhaps for one reason or the other they have tried to
contact him and was unsuccessful).

However, thereupon I announced his death and protocols observed I was
mandated (as the deceased's Friend) to provide the Next of Kin to inherit
the Deposits or they will freeze it as" Unclaimed Deposit". Unfortunately,
and unknown to the Finance Firm, the Next of Kin was among the dead in the
car crash.

But rather leaving the Deposits/Account frozen hence I seek your help to
claim the fund into your Account as you share the same surname with my late
friend and I have the required Information to execute the transaction under
legal process.

Please contact me for further information and commencement of the
transaction, include your direct telephone number and be informed that your
compensation will be 50% of this fund, while 50% will be my share.

Please it is only trust and honesty to our self will make this claim to work
out accordingly, and success will be our achievement at the end of this
transaction.

Please get in touch with me by my email address :
(goodlmartins_me@hotmail.com) for the successful
transaction,

I wait to hear from you soon.

Yours faithfully,
Mr. Goodluck Martins

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam