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: "cook cook" <cook_linda100@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: lindacook002@yahoo.com
Date: Mon, 14 Nov 2005 07:00:34 -0500
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Dear Winner,
WINNING FINAL NOTIFICATION
We are officially informing you of the result of the Lottery Winners
International programs held
on the 29th of October 2005 as part of our promotional programs for the year
2005. Your e-mail
address attached to ticket number 77007742781005-18721 with reference number
414-3721060 drew winning numbers 7-00-71-00-66-49 and credited to batch
number 121cfc, which consequently won in the 3rd category via our electronic
ticket as stated above. You have therefore been approved for a pay out of
?1,800,000.00 (One Million Eight Hundred Thousand Pounds).
CONGRATULATIONS!!!
We also advice that you keep your winning information very confidential as
our security policy
demands to avoid double claims/impersonation and unwarranted abuse of this
program by some
individuals.
All participants were selected through a random computer ballot system drawn
from over 800,000
company and 1,000,000 individual email addresses and names from all over the
world. This
promotional program takes place annually and we hope with part of your
winning you will take part
in our next year ?20 Million Pounds International Lottery. To file for your
claim, you will be
contacting our accounts department authorized to verify and process your
claims for your total
payment (You will receive more information upon your acknowledgment of this
email).
This lottery is promoted and sponsored by software corporations and other
private organizations
to help individuals generate fortunes which would encourage them to expand
their business
frontiers thereby creating more opportunities and assisting with
humanitarian concerns within
their immediate environment. Please Note that winnings must be claimed not
later than 15th of
DECEMBER 2005. After this date all unclaimed funds will be included in our
subsequent program
coming up later in 2005. In order to avoid complications always quote your
reference number in
all correspondence.
NAME:.....................................................................
AGE:.........................................................................
SEX:..........................................................................
ADDRESS:...............................................................
EMAIL:....................................................................
PHONE
No.:...........................................................................
OCCUPATION:.......................................................
COMPANY:.............................................................
COUNTRY:..............................................................
Please you are adviced to complete the form and send back to us for
prompt collection. You are automatically disqualified if you are below 18
years of age.
Any breach of confidentiality on the part of the winners will result to
disqualification.
This E-mail message (including attachments, if any)is intended for the
use of the individual or entity to which it is addressed and may
contain Information that is privileged, proprietary,confidential and
exempted
from disclosure. If you are not the intended recipient, you are notified
that any dissemination,distribution or copying of this communication
is strictly prohibited.
Sincerely yours,
Mrs linda cook
Programs & Events coordinator
(Highwood Group)
REPLY TO,
lindacook007@yahoo.co.uk


--

Anti-fraud resources: