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: "rich howard" <britishamericanlottery@msn.com>
Reply-To: britishamericanlotteryclaims@msn.com
Date: Wed, 07 Sep 2005 10:12:06 +0000
Subject: Attn:Winner

BRITISH AMERICA LOTTERY HEADQUARTERS:
CUSTOMER SERVICE,
*******************************************
28 TANFIELD ROAD,CROYDON. LONDON
*******************************************
Ref: KPC/9080118308/02/TCA
Batch: 12/25/0034
Attn: Winner,
We happily announce to you the draw of the British Lottery
International programs held on the 29th of July, 2005 in London.
Your e-mail address attached to ticket number: 56475600545 188 with
Serial number 5388/02 drew the lucky numbers: 31-6-26-13-35-7, which
subsequently won you the lottery in the 2nd category.
You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of US$2,500,000.00
(Two Million, Five Hundred Thousand, United States Dollars) in cash credited
to file KPC/9080118308/02/TCA.
This is from a total cash prize of US$75,000.000.00 (Seventy Five Million
United State Dollars) shared amongst the first fifty (50) lucky winners in
this category."B" This year Lottery Program Jackpot is the largest ever for
British Lottery. The estimated $75 Million jackpot would be the
sixth-biggest in U.K. history. The biggest was the $363 Million jackpot
that went to two winners in January, 2004 drawing of The Big Game Mega
Millions predecessor. Please note that your lucky winning number falls
within
our European booklet representative office in Europe as indicated in our
play coupon.
In view of this, your US$2,500,000.00 (Two Million, Five Hundred Thousand,
United States Dollars)
would be released to you physically by our affiliate
Bank. Our agent will immediately commence the process to facilitate the
release of your funds to you as soon as you make contact with him.
All participants were selected randomly from 'World Wide Web' site
through computer draw system and extracted from over 100,000 companies.
This promotion takes place annually. For security reasons, you are
advised to keep your winning information confidential till your claims is
processed and your money remitted to you. This is a part of our
precautionary
measure to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program by
some unscrupulous elements Please be warned.
To file for your claim, please contact your claims
agent with the below details for processing of your claims and endeavor to
list out your winning numbers when filing your claim.
**************************************************
Name: Mr. Harold Brookes.
Tel: +44-703-190-3427,+44-703-184-3947,+44-703-184-5076
Fax:+44-709-286-7716 / +44-709-286-1600
E-mail: britishamericanlotteryclaims@msn.com
Foreign Services Manager, Payment and Release order Department,
TRANS-ATLANTIC S.A LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM
**************************************************
Note that all claims process and clearance procedures must be duly
completed early to avoid impersonation arising to the issue of double claim.
To avoid unnecessary delays and complications, please quote your
reference/batch numbers in any correspondences with us or our
designated agent.
Congratulations once more from all members and staffs of this program.
Yours Faithfully,
Rich Howard.
British Lottery Commission Coordinator.


Anti-fraud resources: