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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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Fraud email example:

From: "OVERSEAS LOTTERY INTERNATIONAL" <overseaslottery_international01@hotmail.com>
Date: Wed, 29 Jun 2005 09:11:06 +0100
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS

FROM:
OVERSEAS STAKES LOTTERY INTERNATIONAL
LONDON,UK.
REF NUMBER: OSL/653/029/05
BATCH NUMBER: AT-040-SB06-05



DEAR SIR,

We are pleased to inform you, THAT AS A RESULT OF OUR
RECENT LOTTERY
DRAWS HELD on the 23rd of MARCH, 2005. Your e-mail
address attached to ticket
number 27522465896-532 with serial number 652-662 drew
lucky numbers
7-14-18-23-31-45 which consequently won in the 2nd
category. You have
therefore been approved for a lump sum pay out of
$4,000,000M (FOUR
MILLION DOLLARS) note that All participants in this
lottery program have been
selected randomly through a computer ballot system
drawn from over
20,000 companies and 30,000,000 individual email
addresses from all search
engines and web sites. This promotional program takes
place every
year, and is promoted and sponsored by eminent
personalities and other
corporate organisations. thisis to encourage the use
of the internet
and computers worldwide.
For security purposes and clarity, we advise that you
Keep your winning
information confidential until your claims have been
processed and your
money remitted to you. This is part of our security
protocol to avoid
double claims and unwarranted abuse of this program by
some participants.
We look forward to your active participation in our
next year USD50 million
slot.
You are requested to contact our clearance officer
below to assist you
with your winnings and subsequent payments. All
winnings must be claimed not
later than one month After the date of this notice.
Please note, in order
to avoid unnecessary delays and complications,
remember to quote our
reference number and batch numbers in all
correspondence. Furthermore,
should there be any change of address do inform our
agent as soon as
possible.
Congratulations once more and thank you for being part
of our
promotional program.
NOTE: YOU ARE AUTOMATICALLY DISQUALIFIED IF YOU ARE
BELOW 18 YEARS OF
AGE.


Sincerely yours,
MRS. TECCY DAVID
(LOTTERY COORDINATOR)

_________________________________________________________________
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