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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:

• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • "from the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • "i will like you to " (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • "urgent assistance" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
  • "top secret" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a scam)
• This email message is a next of kin scam.

Fraud email example:

From: Bmw Award <bmw.award@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Sat, 23 Aug 2008 10:41:26 +0000 (GMT)
Subject: Ouagadougou Burkina Faso.



NB/ AS YOU CAN SEE BELOW IS THE PHOTOGRAPH OF MR WILLIAM  TANSKY AND THE BANK DIRECTOR'S DURING ONE OF HIS VISIT TO THE BANK (ADB) WHEN HE WAS ALIVE.

 
Please for more details concerning him and how he died, you can visit this website:
www.cnn.com/2000/US/02/01/alaska.airlines.list/
 

From the Desk of Dr. Bushare Mohammed
 Manager Bill and Exchange Dept
 African Development Bank (ADB)
 Ouagadougou Burkina Faso.
 
 Dear Friend,
 
 I know that this mail will come to you as a  surprise. I am the bill and Exchange   manager in African Development Bank .I Hope that you  will not expose or betray   this trust and confident that   i am about to Repose on you for the mutual benefit  of our both families.
 
 I need your urgent assistance in transferring the  sum of $15.6 million Immediately   to your account. The money has been dormant for
 years in our Bank here without any   body coming for it. I want to release the money to you as the nearest  person to our deceased customer  (the owner Of the account) who died a long with his  supposed next of kin in an air   Crash since July 2000.  I don't want the money to go into our Bank treasury as an abandoned fund.
 
 So this is the reason why i contacted you, so that  the bank can release the money   to you as the nearest person to the deceased
 customer.
 
 Please i will like you to keep this proposal as a top secret and delete if you are   not interested.
 
 Upon receipt of your reply, I will send you full  details on how the  Business will be executed and also note that you  will have 40% of the Above   mentioned sum. Acknowledge receipt of this message
 in acceptance of my mutual  business endeavour by furnishing me with the  following:
 
 Your Full Name...
Your Sex....
Your Age.....
Your Country.....
Marital Status.....
Your Occupation....
Your Personal Mobile Number......
Your Personal Fax Number..
 
  
Bushare Mohammed   
 African Development Bank,
 Burkina Faso West Africa

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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam