joewein.net   joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet
Try our spam filter!
Free trial for 30 days
  jwSpamSpy

Home
About Us
Spam
419/Nigeria
Fraud
Contact

"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.

 

 

Fraud email example:

From: "MR .TONY MANLERE" <t_man1@hotmail.com> (may be fake)
Reply-To: engrchristo@yahoo.com
Date: Thu, 10 Jun 2004 13:26:47 +0200
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS

FROM: THE LOTTERY COORDINATOR, INTERNATIONAL
PROMOTIONS/PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT
ATTENTION: (REFERENCE NUMBER: EG-A718-2 BATCH NUMBER:
224-DA)
THIRD CATEGORY WINNER
After a successful completion of the third category draws of
VAX FOUNDATION LOTTERY, held on 28TH MAY 2004, we are
pleased to inform you of the official announcement today that you have
emerged one of the winners of the VAX FOUNDATION
LOTTERY/INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS, which is part of our
promotional draws. Participants were selected through a computer ballot
system drawn from 25,000 names/email addresses of individuals and
companies from Africa, America, Asia, Australia, Canada, Europe, Middle
East, and New Zealand as part of our International Promotions Program.
You/Your company, attached to ticket number 714-5-9827, with serial
number 14-83 drew the lucky numbers 03, 15, 23, 25, 35, 40, (30),
and consequently won in the Third Category.You have therefore been
awarded a lump sum pay out of US$1,900,000.00 in cash, which is the
winning payout for third category winners. This is from the total prize
money of US$5,200,000.00 shared among the eight international
winners in the Third category.
CONGRATULATIONS!
Your fund is now deposited with BRAMLEY FINANCIAL SERVICES,
insured in your name. To avoid mix up of numbers and names of any
kind, we request that you keep this award strictly from public notice until
the entire process of transfering your claims has been completed, and
your funds remitted to your account. This is part of our security protocol to
avoid double claiming or unscrupulous acts by participants of this
program.
We also wish to bring to your notice our end of year (2004) high stakes
where you stand a chance of winning up to US$1.3 billion, we hope
that with a part of your prize you will participate. Please contact your
claims agent immediately,to begin your claims
process;
MR .TONY MANLERE
CLAIMS DEPT. MANAGER,
BRAMLEY FINANCE & INSURANCE LTD.
PHONE: +27-73-17-89609
EMAIL:
For due processing and remittance of your prize money to a designated
account of your choice. Remember, you must contact your claims agent
within a week of recieving this mail.
NOTE: To avoid unnecessary delays and complications, please remember
to quote your reference and batch numbers provided below in every
one of your correspondence with your claims agent.
REFERENCE NUMBER: EG-A718-2
BATCH NUMBER: 224-DA
Congratulations once again from all our staff and thank you for being
part of our promotions program.
Sincerely,
THE LOTTERY COORDINATOR,
VAX FOUNDATION LOTTERY SA.
150-152 RICHARD JOHNSON BOULEVARD,
RANDBURG, JOHANNESBURG.
SOUTH AFRICA.
N.B. Any breach of confidentiality on the part of the winners will
result to disqualification. Please do not reply to this mail. Contact your
claims agent.


Anti-fraud resources: