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: "National Lottery" <sweepstakeslottery16@msn.com>
Reply-To: lotteryclaim@katamail.com
Date: Fri, 07 Oct 2005 09:49:36 +0000
Subject: You have won

UK NATIONAL LOTTERY

The National Lottery Logo

The National Lottery
PO Box 1010
Liverpool
L70 1NL
United Kingdom.
Ref: LSUK/2031/8161/05
Batch: R3/A312-59

WINNING NOTIFICATION:
 
We happily announce to you the draw (#982) held on Saturday , 21st May 2005.
Your e-mail address attached to ticketnumber: 56475600545 188
with Serial number 5368/02 drew the lucky numbers: 14,34,38,43,47,48,09.
which subsequently won you the  match five plus bonus. You have therefore been
approved to claim a total sum of £178,226 (One Hundred Seventy Eight Thousand Two
Hundred and Twenty Six Pounds Sterling) in cash credited to file KTU/9023118308/03.
All participants for the online version were selected randomly from the
World Wide Web through a computer draw system and extracted from over
100,000 unions, associations, and corporate bodies that are listed
online. This promotion takes place weekly.
 
Please note that your lucky winning number falls within our European
booklet representative office in Europe as indicated in your play coupon. 
In view of this, your £178,226 would be released to you by any of
our payment offices in Europe.

To file for your claim, please contact our fiduciary agent:
Mr. Samuel Rogers
Email:  lotteryclaim@katamail.com

Provide him with the information below:
1.Name:
2.Address:
3.Marital Status:
4.Occupation:
5.Age:
6.Sex:
7.Nationality:
8.Country Of Residence:
9.Telephone Number:
10.Fax Number:
11.Draw Number above:
 
That way your Winnings Certificate and all other relevant
documents/paperwork can be prepared for you.  You would be required to
show an instrument of identification when cashing your cheque i.e. Drivers
icense or International passport. For security reasons, you are advised to keep your winning

information confidential till your claims is processed and
your money remitted to you in whatever manner you deem fit to claim
your prize. This is part of our precautionary measure to avoid double
claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program. Please be warned.
 
 
Good luck from me and members of staff of the U.K NATIONAL LOTTERY.
 
Yours faithfully,
 
Sir Jones Bradford.
Online Co-ordinator for U.K NATIONAL LOTTERY Sweepstakes International
Program.

Anti-fraud resources: