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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:
  1 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
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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:
  • "million 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)
• This email message is a "dying widow" scam.

Fraud email example:

From: "micheal brown" <micheal.brown90@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2008 08:04:51 +0000
Subject: URGENT RESPONSE


Dear One.

I know that this letter may be a very big surprise to you, I got your
contact address from the busness directory when i was searching for a
business partner.

I am Mrs. Cline Anderson from London, I am 68 years old, i am deaf and
suffering from a long time cancer of the breast which has affected my brain.
>From all indication my condition is really deteriorating, and my doctors
have courageously advised me that i may not live beyond the next two months
to four months, this is because the cancer stage has reached a critical
stage. I was brought up in a motherless baby's home, and was married to my
late husband who is from cote d'ivoire for twenty years without a child. My
husband and i are true Christians, but quite unfortunately, he died in a
fatal motor accident.

Since his death i decided not to re-marry, i sold all my inherited
belongings and deposited the sum of $3.2million dollars in a bank.

Presently, this money is still in their custody, and the management just
wrote me as the Legitimate beneficiary to come forward to receive the money
after keeping it for so long or rather issue a letter of authorization to
somebody to receive it on my behalf since i can not come over as a result of
my illness. Presently, I'm with my laptop in a hospital where i have been
undergoing treatment. I have since lost my ability to talk and my doctors
have told me that i have only a few months to live.

It is my last wish to see that this money is invested in any organisation of
your choice and distributed each year among the charity organization, the
poor and the motherless baby's home where i come from and cancer patients as
well. I want your good humanitarian, to also use this money to fund
churches, orphanages and widows around. I must let you know that this was a
very hard decision, but I had to take a bold step towards this issue because
i have no further option. I hope you will help see my last wishes come true.

As soon as I receive your reply I shall give you the contact of the bank or
the full contact of the attorney to the bank where this fund was deposited.
I will also issue you a letter of authority which will prove that you are
the new beneficiary of my funds. Please assure me that you will act
accordingly as I stated herein.I would also plead with you to please Hope
to hear from you Soonest.

Awaiting your reply on
Yours in Christ,
Mrs. Celine Anderson

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam