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: "sandra williams" <sandrawilliams500@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: grantzebra@myway.com
Date: Tue, 25 Oct 2005 17:28:34 +0000
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS!!!

ZEBRA LOTTERY INTERNATIONAL
Orchard Place, Flint House road,
PE04 8JR, United Kingdom.
Ref. Number: 632/001/3001
Batch Number: 400001429-AK446


Sir/Madam,

We are pleased to inform you of the result of the Lottery Winners
International programs held on the 5th September, 2005.Your e-mail address
attached to ticket number 370982217413-7240 with serial number 4708-325 drew
lucky numbers 2-34-28-13-41 which consequently won inthe 7th category,you
have thereforebeen approved for a lump sum pay of USD$3,500,000.00(Three
million five hundred thousand United States Dollars).CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Due to mix up of some numbers and names, we ask that you keep your winning
information confidential until your claims has been processed and your money
Remitted to you. This is part of our security protocol to avoid double
claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program by some participants. All
participantswere selected through a compute ballot system drawn from over
20,000 company and 30,000,000 individual email addresses and names from all
over the world. This promotional program takes place every three year.

This lottery was promoted and sponsored by Ted Turner,Jesse Jackson,Ken
Evoy,and Bill Gates, President of the World Largest software, we hope with
part of your winning you will take part in our nextyear USD50 million
international lottery.

To file for your claim, please contact our fiducial agent MR.Bill Grant, of
the Zebra Trust Agency immediately via this email address, i shall forward
your mail to him for necessary action. Remember, all winning must be claimed
within one month of receipt of this notice. After this date all unclaimed
funds will be included in the next stake. Please note in order to avoid
unnecessary delays and complications remember to quote your reference number
and batch numbers in all correspondence.

Furthermore, should there be any change of address do inform our agent as
soon as possible, and send to me your private telephone numbers for easy
communication. Congratulations once more from our members of staff and thank
you for being part of our promotionalprogram.

Sincerely yours,
SANDRA WILLIAMS (MS.)
Lottery Coordinator


Anti-fraud resources: