419 scam: "Alex Williams" <alexwilliams289@gmail.com> Dear Friend, Your Urgent Assistance Is Needed

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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.

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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)
- "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)
- "my direct line" (a "direct line" in a scam usually means an untraceable mobile phone number used by a scammer in an internet cafe, a redirection service number that forwards to a mobile or a free voicemailbox in a different country.)
This email message is a next of kin scam.
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.
- +447924573508

Fraud email example:

From: "Alex Williams" <alexwilliams289@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 10 Apr 2017 23:49:16 +0100
Subject: Dear Friend, Your Urgent Assistance Is Needed

Dear Friend,

My name is Alex Williams and I work with a Bank here in London-England, The name of the bank is Metro Bank London (England). We had one Mr. Allan P. Smith, customer that had a deposit of US$43.5M (Forty Three Million Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars) before he Died in a plane crash with his wife and only Child about 7 years now (January 30, 2010) and since he died, we in the Bank here have been expecting his/her next of kin/relative(s) for the inheritance of the deposit, but none has surfaced.

The policy of the Bank however stipulates a limited time period for such inheritance to be made or the fund will be written off going by the record of the incident, the time limit for the claim is closing up. In this consideration, I am contacting you to seek for your kind understanding and sincere co-operation to claim this inheritance for our mutual benefit.

Kindly indicate your willingness by return email or you call for more information, and we shall proceed with the initial step for the claim. The entire project is expected to last for about ten working days.
my direct line is +447924573508.

Best Regards,
Alex Williams.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam