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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
• Support our efforts to stop scams!
  
• How to report 419 spam to us
• What can you do when you receive 419 spam
  
  
• Spam archive, Daily index
  

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)
  • "bank charges " (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. Never ever send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally. )
  • "00,000.00" (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 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
  
• This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
  • +22993792475 (Benin, probably a prepaid mobile phone)

Fraud email example:

From: "mohamedatiku@libero.it" <mohamedatiku@libero.it>
Date: Tue, 24 Feb 2009 09:26:12 +0100 (CET)
Subject: INFORM MY ACCOUNTANT NOW FOR YOUR COMPENSATION



Dear Friend,i am happy to inform you about my soccessful in getting a new partner in Aguru whom help me to transfered the fund into his account.so i am in Bangkok now to use my own share of $20,000000.00usd for investment.but i do not forget your effort that you made last time to make sure that this fund had transferred into your account but at the end it seem to been in vain due to the bank charges Because of the effort i had made the chaque of $1000,000.00usd which i had kept for your compersation.now contact my secretary to send the check to you whose name is JEBER DOKA/His email adress is jeberdoka@live.fr,cell phone no;(+229-9379-2475)free to contact.make sure that if you recieve it you do let me know to share the joy together.finally, remember that I had forwarded instruction to my secretary on your behalf to receive that money.YoursMOHAMED ATIKU

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam