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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.

Click here to report a problem with this page.

 

 

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

Fraud email example:

From: "lottery lotto" <sponsorslotto3@msn.com>
Date: Sat, 22 Oct 2005 17:46:54 +0000
Subject: YOU ARE THE WINNER OF US$500,000.

SPONSORS LOTTERY INTERNATIONAL
THE DESK OF THE MANAGING DIRECTOR
INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS/PRIZE AWARDS DEPARTMENT
REF NO: TLOT/333724560/005
BATCH NO:24/AIS7632/Bacc
RE: AWARD NOTIFICATION/ FINAL NOTICE
We are pleased to inform you of the result of the GLOBAL SOFTWARE GROUP
SPONSORED LOTTERY which was held on the 20th Of October 2005. Your name
attached to a ticket number 025-146492-750 with serial number 25956-05 drew
the lucky numbers 5-24-28-30-39-41 which consequently won the lottery in the
1st category. You have therefore been approved for a lump sum payout of
US$500,000.00(Five Hundred Thousand US Dollars) in cash credited to the file
reference number: TLOT/333724560/005. This is from a total cash prize of
US$14.000,000.00 (Fourteen Million US Dollars) shared among twelve (28)
international winners in this grand category.
CONGRATULATIONS!!! Your funds is now deposited in a suspense account with
our paying Bank insured to your name waiting remittance into your bank
account.
Due to the privacy policy guiding this lottery promtional programme, we
advice that you keep your award from public notice until your claims has
been processed and your money remitted to your nominated bank account as
this is this is part of our security protocol to avoid double claiming or
unwarranted abuse of this program by the general public.
All participants were selected through a computer ballot system drawn from
25,000 names and E-mail addresses from Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Europe
and North America as part of our international lottery program which we
conduct twice every year. We hope that with part of your prize, you will
part-take next year in our high stakes US$1.3billion International Lottery.
To claim your Prize, please contact your claims agent
**********************************************************
MR.Phil Owens.
TEL: 0031-621-548-520.
E-mail: sponsorsgroup@netscape.net
Alternative Email: sponsors@rock.com
Foreign Services Manager, Payment Process and Release Order Department,
**********************************************************
for processing and remittance of your prize funds into your designated bank
account.
Note that all prize funds must be claimed not later than 30th November,
2005. After this date all funds will be returned as unclaimed for the next
sweepstake.
In order to avoid any delays and complications, please endeavour to quote
your reference and batch numbers in every correspondence with us or your
claims agent.
Furthermore, should there be any change in your address, do inform your
claims agent as soon as possible. Congratulations once again from all
members of our staff and thanks for being part of our promotional program.
Regards,
Mrs. Patricia Walker.
(Lottery Co-ordinator)
E-mail: sponsorsgroup@netscape.net


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