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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
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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:

• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • "will come to you as a surprise" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • "hundred thousand 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)
  • "cotonou" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
• This email message is a next of kin scam.

Fraud email example:

From: Mike Ashly <miksdl09@msn.com>
Reply-To: <mrdmikeashly@live.fr>
Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2008 15:50:37 +0000
Subject: Happy New Year




Dear Friend,


Please this is important and very urgent I have an urgent transaction of $6.6 million usd to transfer to your nominated account, am
Mike Ashly I am an Auditor, with the Accounting Department, of the BANQUE ATLANTIQUE in OUAGADOUGOU , BURKINA FASO .After going through some old files in the records, I discovered that if I do not remit this money out urgently it will be forfeited for nothing. The owner of this account unfortunately died in the plane crash of Union Transport Africans Flight Boeing 727 in Cotonou, Benin republic on the December
25,2003.No other person knows about this account or any thing concerning it, the account has no other beneficiary and my investigation proved to me as well that his company does not know anything about this account and the amount involved is (USD 6.6 MILLION) Six million Six Hundred Thousand United States Dollars.
I want to transfer the USD6.6 MILLION) Six Hundred Thousand United States Dollars into a safe foreigners account abroad , I am only contacting you as a foreigner because this money can not be approved to a local bank here, but can only be approved to any foreign account because the money is in US dollars and the former owner of the account is a foreigner too I know that this message will come to you as a surprise as we don't know our selves before, but be rest assure that this is life time business for both of us even for our generation to come,
And I want to remind you that your share has been calculated at 35% of the total sum. YOU MAY REPLY ME THROUGH MY PRIVATE EMAIL ADDRESS : (mikeashly1@yahoo.com.co)
With Regards,
Mike Ashly.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam