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.

 

 

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

Fraud email example:

From: "UK LOTTERY" <ukworld_lottery@msn.com>
Date: Mon, 17 Oct 2005 16:40:46 +0000
Subject: CONGRATULATION WINNERS!!!

The National Lottery Logo     
UK-LOTTO Sweepstake Lottery
2-7 WALTER CARINGTON DRIVE D.W,
LONDON, ENGLAND,
UNITED KINGDOM.
W6T 1E2.
               
FROM: THE DESK OF THE PROMOTIONS MANAGER, NTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS/PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT, REF: UK/9420X2/68 AND BATCH NO: 074/05/ZY369
 
         AWARD NOTIFICATION,
  We happily announce to you the draw of the UK-LOTTO Sweepstake Lottery International programs held on the 16th of October 2005 in LONDON,UNITED KINGDOM.  You/your company, attached to ticket number 56475600545 188, with serial number 5368/02  drew the lucky numbers 01-77-13-55-38-11, and
consequently won the lottery in the 1st category (category 'A').
 
  You have therefore been approved for a lump sum pay out of US$2,500,000.00 (Two million,Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars) in cash credited to file ktu/9023118308/03. This is from total prize money of US$5,000,000.00 shared among the two(2) international winners in this category. All participants were selected through a computer balloting system drawn form 25,000 names from Middle East, Asia, Africa, Canada, Europe and North America as part of our International Promotions Program,which is conducted annually.
 
                                 CONGRATULATIONS!!!
   Your fund is now deposited with FIRST SECURITIES INC., Due to the mix up of some numbers and names, we ask that you keep this award strictly from public notice until your claim has been processed and your money remitted to your account. This is part of our security protocol to avoid double claiming or unscrupulous acts by participants of this program. 
  We hope with a part of your prize, you will participate in our end of year high stakes US$1.3 billion International Lottery.   To begin your claim, please contact your fiduciary \ claim agent;
 
DR. JAMES LLOYDS,                    
EMAIL: jameslloyds01@yahoo.co.uk
FIDUCIARY AGENT.            
 
for due processing and remittance of your prize money to a designated account of your choice. Remember, you must contact your claim agent not later than 28th of October 005. After this date, all funds will be returned as unclaimed. All correspondences to DR.JAMES LLOYDS,  by email, should have this EMAIL sent along with it and also, YOUR FULL NAMES, FULL CONTACT ADDRESS(COUNTRY OF RESIDENCE) and EMAIL ADDRESS to which this email is sent, should be clearly and boldly written in your response.
 
NOTE:   In order to avoid unnecessary delays and complications, please
remember to quote your REFERENCE NUMBER and BATCH NUMBER in every one of your correspondences with your agent. Furthermore, should there be any change of your address, do inform your claims agent as soon as possible.
Congratulations again from all our staff and thank you for being part of our promotions program.
 
Sincerely,
SIR BALLS WANYE.
UK-LOTTO Co-ordinator.
 
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 Fiduciary agent.

Anti-fraud resources: