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" <unitedkingdomlottery_stakesgames@msn.com>
Date: Tue, 10 Jan 2006 06:21:49 +0000
Subject: NOTIFICATION OF WINNING

 
The National Lottery Logo                                                                  Lotto
 
                THE NATIONAL LOTTERY OF THE UNITED KINGDOM (UK)
The National Lottery
PO Box 1010
Liverpool
L70 1NL
The United Kingdom
 
NOTIFICATION OF WINNING
 
We happily announce to you the results of the UK LOTTO DRAW 1048 of The National Lottery of The UK drawn on Sat 7 Jan 2006. The Numbers Drawn are as follow;
                               Ball number 8Ball number 14Ball number 19Ball number 28Ball number 29Ball number 48             Bonus Ball number 6BONUS BALL
 
 
Your e-mail address was randomly selected from millions others by our computer systems as part of our UK LOTTO program which is designed to dispose of the Millions of Pounds which we hold in our UNCLAIMED WINNINGS ACCOUNT. Numbers are then randomly picked in an automated lucky dip system and then attached randomly to all individual e-mail addresses. After this process, owners of the randomly selected e-mail addresses are notified of the winnings and are then expected to file a claim for the winning(s). Where the owner of the e-mail rejects the winning by commission or omission, such winning(s) are directed to charity.
 
I happily write to inform you that your email drew the following numbers;
29, 08, 19, 28, 43, 48. (In that order)
 
This effectively qualifies you for the second category (Match 6 numbers) along with Four other winners to jointly share the total prize of £ 15, 000, 000.00= (Fifteen Million Pounds only) of  which £ 3,000, 000. 00= (Three Million Pounds only) is your TOTAL WINNING. 
 
 
Please, you are advised to file your claim for your winning(s) at least fourteen days after the sent date on this Winning Notification mail, failing which, your winning(s) will be deemed forfeited and transferred to charity.
 
Do not fail to contact our accredited claims agent that has been assigned to you. His name is
LAWRENCE CARL, MR.,
UK Lottery Agent Number: 114
 
WHEN YOU REACH HIM BY MAIL, HE WILL SEND YOU OUR PRIZE CLAIMS FORM WHICH YOU ARE TO FILL AND RETURN BY FAX OR E-MAIL TO THE CLAIMS AGENT FOR PROCESSING. HE WILL GIVE YOU HIS CONTACT PHONE AND FAX NUMBER(S) THROUGH WHICH YOU ARE TO FURTHER COMMUNICATE WITH HIM. ALWAYS COPY ANY MAIL YOU SEND TO HIM TO THIS MAIL; lottoagent114@yahoo.co.uk
THIS IS TO ENABLE US MONITOR AND FACILITATE QUICK AND CORRECT DISBURSEMENT OF YOUR WINNINGS TO YOU.
 
PLEASE, WHEN CONTACTING THE CLAIMS AGENT QUOTE THIS NUMBER - UKNL/09/0814823/M2/87753.
THIS IS THE PRIZE WINNING IDENTIFICATION NUMBER ATTACHED TO YOUR E-MAIL. FAILURE TO DO THIS WILL INVALIDATE YOUR WINNING.
 
THANK YOU,
LOTTO DIRECTOR,
THE NATIONAL LOTTERY OF THE UK.
 
You must be 16 or over to play or claim a prize
DO NOT REPLY THIS MAIL- PLEASE CONTACT YOUR ASSIGNED CLAIMS AGENT.
 
Security Information
PLEASE READ THIS IMPORTANT SECURITY INFORMATION!
TO AVOID LOSS OF WINNINGS, KEEP THIS MAIL AND IT'S CONTENTS CONFIDENTIAL UNTIL YOU HAVE SUCCESSFULLY FILED YOUR CLAIM FOR YOUR WINNING(S). CONTACT ONLY THE AGENT ASSIGNED TO YOU WITH REGARDS TO YOUR CLAIMS AND WINNING(S). SEND ANY COMPLAINTS YOU MIGHT HAVE TO OUR AGENT MONITORING MAILBOX; lottoagent114@yahoo.co.uk  
 
NOTE (WARNING):
FRAUDULENT EMAILS ARE CIRCULATING CLAIMING TO BE THE NATIONAL UK LOTTERY SERVICE. PLEASE DO NOT HESITATE TO REPORT TO US ANY OF SUCH EMAILS YOU ENCOUNTER. ALSO NOTE THAT INTERNET SCAMMERS AND FRAUDSTERS MAY WANT TO CONTACT YOU AND ILLEGALLY ASK FOR ADVANCED FEES. THOSE ARE SCAMS. BEWARNED!
          THIS MESSAGE IS FROM THE NATIONAL UK LOTTERY SECURITY UNIT.

Anti-fraud resources: