419 scam: "William Nelson" <williams260@yahoo.com.ph> COMPLIMENTS,

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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

The so-called "419" scam is a type of fraud dominated by criminals from Nigeria and other countries in Africa. Victims of the scam are promised a large amount of money, such as a lottery prize, inheritance, money sitting in some bank account, etc.

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.

Keep in mind that scammers DO NOT use their real names when defrauding people.
The criminals either abuse names of real people or companies or invent names or addresses.
Any real people or companies mentioned below have NO CONNECTION to the scammers!

Read more about such scams here or in our 419 FAQ. Use the Scam-O-Matic to verify suspect emails.

Click here to report a problem with this page.

Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

This email uses a separate reply address that is different from the sender address. Spammers use this to get replies even when the original spam sending accounts have been shut down. Also, sometimes the sender addresses are legitimate looking but fake and only the reply address is actually an email account controlled by the scammers.
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)
- "dormant account" (Banks mentioned in 419 scams are always fake (real banks don't communicate using mobile phones or free webmail addresses))
- "chief auditor" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
This email message is a next of kin scam.

Fraud email example:

From: "William Nelson" <williams260@yahoo.com.ph>
Reply-To: williamnelson114@yahoo.com
Date: Tue, 17 Jul 2012 16:17:56 +0200
Subject: COMPLIMENTS,

From: Mr. William Nelson
1 Churchill Place, E14 5HP
London UK.

COMPLIMENTS,

TRANSFER OF $250 000.000.00. Million USD TO YOUR ACCOUNT.

I am Mr. William Nelson; Chief Auditor and Operation Manager working
with Barclay's Bank Plc London Uk, there is a project at hand I would
like to partner with you.This is an investment/partnership business
proposal which I believe, will be of mutual benefit to both of us.

This massage is strictly confidential and is for your attention only.I
wish to transfer the sum of $250 000.000.00. Million which belong to
our foreign Deceased Client,The fund has been dormant (in- active) for
5 years in our Bank here without anybody coming for it. I want to
release the fund to you as the nearest person to our deceased customer
(the owner of the account) who died a long time ago with his supposed
next of kin in air crash. Through my compilation of accounts, I
discovered this dormant account with balance of Two Hundred and Fifty
Million Dollars ($250 000.000.00 USD) deposited.

Regarding the short period of Twenty-One (21) working days allowed
confirming and submitting the reports by the Board of directors of my
bank, which may lead to the cancellation or terminating of the
account. I have chosen to seek your consent to work with me as a team
and pull out this fund under the legitimacy as the heir apparent of
Late Client .The intended transaction will be executed under a
legitimate arrangement that will protect us from any infraction of the
law. However, if this business proposition offends your moral ethics,
do accept my sincere apology. If on the contrary you wish to achieve
this goal with me, kindly get back to me with your interest for
further explanation. I contacted you for this business because the
fund will be approved and paid to any Foreigner with the correct
information of the account and the credit balance which I will provide
to you, we will share it between us after successful completion of
transfer to your account.

I wait very urgent to hear from you.

Mr.William Nelson
Chief Auditor and Operation Manager

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam