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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:
  • "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • "million 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)
  • "your urgent reply" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
  • "god fearing " (scammers in West Africa like to use religious phrases)
• 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.
  • grace_william1@myway.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "grace williams" <gracewilliams202@gmail.com>
Reply-To: grace_william1@myway.com
Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2008 04:02:03 -0700
Subject: Holland Hospital , Reply


Holland Hospital ,
602 Elizabeth Ave. MI 49423
From Mrs. Grace William.


Dear Friend,
Greetings to you and your family in the name of God. In my search for a
reliable and God fearing person and having gotten your contact through
prayers and painstaking efforts I have decided to seek your help in carrying
out my last wishes. My name is Mrs. Grace William. I? a 65 years old woman
and from Nether land-Holland. I was a merchant and owned two businesses in
Dubai. I was also married with two children. My husband and two children
died in a car accident six years ago.


I have been helping orphanage/motherless homes. I have also donated some
money for humanitarian needs in Sudan, South Africa, Cameroon, Brazil,
Spain, Austria, Germany and some Asian countries. Only recently I saw on
television the colossal loss of properties and livelihood people in
Canberra, Australia through fire. I was moving with great pity and compa
ssion that I decided to make this contribution on assisting people over
there, I kept US20.5 Million United States Dollars in a long-term deposit
account in a Finance company in EUROPE.


Presently, I'm in a hospital where I have been undergoing treatment for
esophagi cancer at Netherland. I have since lost my ability to talk and my
doctors have told me that I have only few months to live. It is my last wish
to see this money distributed to victims of the fire outbreak in Australia
and other charity organization. I have enclosed for you the Current
Photograph I took below because relatives and friends have plundered so much
of my wealth since my illness, I cannot live with the agony entrusting this
huge responsibility to any of them.


Please, I beg you in the name of God to help me collect the deposit and
distribute it accordingly. Use your judgment to distribute the money and
keep 10% of it to yourself. If you are willing to help, please reply as soon
as poss ible. W ith your phone number. Once I receive your urgent reply, an
attorney will assist you to have this fund clear from the security/finance
company where this fund is deposited.


May the good God bless you? Send reply and all correspondences to my private
email: grace_william1@myway.com<http://us.mc458.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=grace_william1@myway.com>


Regards
Mrs. Grace Williams

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam