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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:

• 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:
  • "dearest one," (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • "abidjan" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
• This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
  
• 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.
  • madinahabed@terra.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: (sent from abused email account)
Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2008 03:22:15 +0200
Subject: From Miss Madinah Abed.


From Miss Madinah Abed.
=C2=A0
Dearest One,
=C2=A0
I am Miss Madinah Abed young medical student from Cote d=E2=80=99Ivoire W=
est Africa. I would like to go into a partnership with you; it is my plea=
sure to contact you for a business venture which I intend to establish in=
your country. Though I have not met with you before but I believe one ha=
s to risk confident in succeed sometimes in life. There is this huge amou=
nt ($10.500, 000, 00 Dollars) Ten Million Five Hundred Thousand United St=
ate Dollars which my late Father deposited on my name in the suspense acc=
ount with one Bank here in Abidjan before his Death.=20
=C2=A0
Now I have decided to invest this money in your country or anywhere safe =
enough outside Africa for security and political reasons. I want you to h=
elp me claim and retrieve these fund from the Bank and transfer it into y=
our personal account in your country for investment purposes, since the m=
oney is deposited in the suspense account I can not have access to the fu=
nd until it is transferred out from the account that is why I am contacti=
ng you to assists me and see that the Bank transfer the money into your p=
ersonal account for to me to leave this country and meet you over there.

I am honourably seeking your assistance in the following ways:=20
1) To provide a bank account into which this money would be transferred t=
o.
(2) To serve as a guardian of this fund.
(3) To make arrangement for me to come over to your country to further my=
education and to secure a resident permit in your country.
=C2=A0
If you can be of assistance to me I will be pleased to offer you 10% of t=
he total fund, and again we are going to invest together and share what e=
ver profit we make together, I want you to get back to me as soon as poss=
ible so that I will tell you what next step to take to enable us conclude=
this transfer. Please do reply me with this email address below for more=
detail about this transfer (madinahabed@terra.com=C2=A0 )
=C2=A0
I am waiting for your soonest response.=20
=C2=A0Yours Sincerely,=20
Miss. Madinah Abed.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam