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: "skymit lottery" <sky_lottery@msn.com>
Date: Tue, 06 Dec 2005 21:07:50 +0000
Subject: WINNING NOTICE

SKYMIT PROMOTIONS WORLDWIDE.
INTERNATIONAL PROGRAM (NL)
28 Hamilton Terrace,
Leamington Spa, England CV32 4LY.

FROM: THE PROMOTION DIRECTOR
INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS DEPT.
REF: 7488/4390/4630
BATCH: 830923267-DH79.

ATTN;WINNER,

RE:AWARD FINAL NOTIFICATION:,

We are pleased to inform you of the result of the Lottery Winners
International programs held on the 5th of December, 2005. Your e-mail
address attached to ticket number 736047196748-5701 with serial Number
4081-497 drew lucky numbers 7-24-78-62-14-05 which consequently won in the
1st category, you have therefore been approved for a lump sum pay out of
£500,000.00.00Pounds (Five Hundred Thousand pounds).CONGRATULATIONS!!! Due
to mix up in some numbers and names, we ask that you keep your winning
information confidential until you file for your claim. This is part of our
security protocol to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this
program by some participants.

All participants were selected through a computer ballot system drawn from
over 25,000 companies and 50,000,000 individual e-mail addresses and names
from all over the World. This promotional program takes place every year.
This lottery program was organized by our group of philanthropist promoted
and sponsored by Mr. Bill Gates of Microsoft Inc, eminent personalities like
the sultan of Brunei, Multi Choiceand other corporate Organisations.This
lottery program was organized to improving the use of computer softwares and
for the benefit of every Microsoft user.

To file for your claim, please contact our fiducial Agent:
SKYMIT TRUST AGENCY.Foreign transfer manager.
Mr.John Peters
Email:skymitt_ta@rediffmail.com

They are your agent, and responsible for the processing and transfer of your
winnings fund to you.Remember, all winnings must be filed not later than th
of 20th December,2005 or when authentic proof is given for the delay of
filing. 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 aspossible.Congratulations once more from our members of staff and
thank you for being a Winner in our promotional program.

Note: Anybody under the age of 18 years is automatically disqualified.
Sincerely yours,
Robert Ann (Ms.)
Lottery Coordinator.

Confidentiality Notice:
The information contained in this e-mail and any attachments may be legally
privileged and confidential. If you are not an intended recipient, you are
hereby notified that any dissemination,distribution or copying of this
e-mail is strictly prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in error,
please notify the sender and permanently delete the e-mail and any
attachments immediately. You should not retain, copy or use this e-mail
or any attachment for any purpose, nor disclose all or any part of the
contents to any other person.


Anti-fraud resources: