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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.

Click here to report a problem with this page.

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

• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "into your nominated bank account" (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)
  • "million 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)
  • ",000,000" (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 fake lottery scam. Consider the following facts about real lotteries:
  
  1. They don't notify winners by email.
  2. You can't win without first buying a lottery ticket.
  3. They don't randomly select email addresses to award prizes to.
  4. They don't use free email accounts (Yahoo, Hotmail, etc) to communicate with you.
  5. They don't tell you to call a mobile phone number.
  6. They don't tell you to keep your winnings secret.
  7. They will never ask a winner to pay any fees to receive a prize!
• 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.
  • +447031911520 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: "mike davids" <mikedavids_2007@hotmail.com>
Date: Tue, 18 Sep 2007 20:26:24 -0500
Subject: ATTENTION..

 

Dear WINNER,
 
We wish to congratulate you and formally inform you that you have won the sum of $2,000,000.00 (Two Million United States Dollars)
 in the last email-lottery draw, organized by ELECTRONIK LOTTERY.
 
We have confirmed the above winning.
 
You should note that your email address in addition to millions of company and individual email were extracted
 with a software and the addresses were scrutinized with a ballot system and after the processes,30 email addresses were selected
and they were shared into 3 categories respectively and which you are a winner in the 2nd category of $2m.
The said sum is now deposited in our suspense account in your favour waiting for the immediate remittance into your nominated bank account.
Be informed that your winning prize has a hardcover insurance policy that makes it impossible to make any deduction of any kind,
 until the sum is finally credited into your designated account.
 
However, our client (ELECTRONIK LOTTERY) has been notified of this development and the status of your claim.
 
Below are the steps you will be following:
 
1. You will activate an account with our accreditted payment center which varies because of the initial deposit of the different
accounts and their features as they are stated below:
 
a. Regular Account, the initial deposit is €1500.00 (One Thousand Five Hundred Euros).
 The Maximum transfer possible within a month is $5,000,000.00 (Five Million USD).
 
b. Daily Account, the initial deposit is €2,500.00 (Two Thousand Five Hundred Euros).
The Maximum transfer possible within a month is $8,000,000.00 (Eight Million USD).
 
c. Premium Account, the initial deposit is  €3,500 (Three Thousand Five Hundred Euros).
 The transfer possible within a month from this account is $15,000,000.00 (Fifteen Million USD).
 
d. Platinum Account, the initial deposit is €4,500.00 (Four thousand Five Hundred Euros),
 the maximum transfer possible from this account within a month is $20,000,000.00 (Twenty Million USD) and above.
 
You will make a choice on the kind of account you can go for as it is important because you are a non-residence of this country
and secondly because the prize money is in a suspense account and you cannot deduct nor make any transfers from a suspense account
 unless you have an existing account with the firm where the money is.
 
2. You will start making transfers to your designated bank account.
I hope these steps are clearly understood by you?
 
Following the above, you are expected to furnish us with all your necessary details
 as requested of you above along with a copy of your international passport
or driver's license via email attachment for vetting process which is a standard practise
just to ensure that we are dealing with the right individual and account.
 
This process is vital and urgent following the instruction from our clients
that all prize money should be claimed on or before the end of 1 week (7days)
from now otherwise your prize money will be returned back to its original source which means you have lost your winning prize.
 
Do fill out the informations below and I will help you put everything in order. Below is the form you will fill:
 
*NAME OF WINNER:
*ADDRESS:
*CITY/STATE:
*COUNTRY:
*NATIONALITY:
*PLACE OF BIRTH:
*DATE OF BIRTH:
*AGE:
*SEX:
*EMAIL ADDRESS:
*TEL:
*MOBILE:
*FAX:
*MARITAL STATUS:
*OCCUPATION:
*NEXT OF KIN:
*AMOUNT WON:
Once again accept our congratulations and we look forward to hearing from you soon.
 
Best Regards,
Mr.Mike Davids
EUROPIAN AWARD DEPT.  
Tel:+447031911520

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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam