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: "Lucky Day" <microsolfday@sympatico.ca>
Date: Fri, 10 Mar 2006 13:23:27 +0000
Subject: MICROSOFT PROMOTION INTERNATIONAL YOUR EMAIL HAVE WON!!!

MICROSOFT PROMOTION INTERNATIONAL YOUR EMAIL HAVE WON!!!
Boeing Avenue 33
6612 PE Schiphol-Rijk.
The Netherlands.

RESULTS FOR CATEGORY "A" DRAWS
Congratulations to you as we bring to your notice,the results of the First
Category draws of MICROSOFT PROMOTION INT.
We are happy to inform you that you have emerged a winner under the First
Category, which is part of our promotional draws.
The draws are being officially announced today 10th of March, 2006.
Participants were selected through a computer ballot system drawn from
2,500,000 email
addresses of individuals and companies from Africa, America, Asia,
Australia, Europe, Middle East, and Oceania as part of our International
Promotions Program.Your e-mail address, attached to ticket number QZ-316-NL,
with serial number 8222-66 drew the lucky numbers 9-17-5-73-8-11 and
consequently won in the First Category.You have therefore been awarded a
lump sum pay out of 1,000,000 (One Million Euros), which is the winning
payout for Category A winners.This is from the total prize money from
1,500,000 shared among the two
winners in this category CONGRATULATIONS!
Your fund is now deposited with the paying Bank.
In your best interest to avoid Disqualification we request that you keep the
entire details of your award strictly from public notice until the
process of transferring your claims has been completed, and your funds
remitted
to your account.This is part of our security protocol to avoid double
claiming or
unscrupulous acts by non winners of this program.You are advised to contact
the agents by email.Failure to do so may warrant disqualification.
NOTE: For easy reference and identification, find below your Reference and
Batch numbers. Remember to quote these numbers in your correspondence
with your claims agent.
REFERENCE NUMBER: LSLUK/2031/8161/04
BATCH NUMBER: 14/011/IPD
Please contact your claims agent immediately for due processing and
remittance of your prize money to a designated account of your choice:
To file for your claim, please contact the below approved agent.
***********************************************
Mr. Claude Berger,
Address: Transvaalstraat. 220A 2060 HT, AMSTERDAM,
NETHERLANDS.
Tel.:+31-202-220-012.
Email: promegatrustx@netscape.net
***********************************************
N.B: Any breach of confidentiality on the part of the winners will result to
disqualification. Contact your claim agent immediately.
Sincerely Yours,
MRS. MARISKA NOWAK.
THE PROMOTION COORDINATOR.
MICROSOFT NL


Anti-fraud resources: