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"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.

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Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: Atlantic Promotions <coordinator@freeruss.com>
Date: Mon, 19 Jun 2006 15:40:17 +0100
Subject: AWARD


ATLANTIC PROMOTIONS INTL
REF NUMBER: ATP/505/998/06
BATCH NUMBER: AT-770-SN13-06

Dear Winner,

We are pleased to inform you that as a result of our recent lottery draw held on the 14th of June 2006. Your e-mail address attached to ticket number 00742086-84 with serial number 7759-1882 drew lucky numbers 09-10-23-24-26-29-38, which consequently won in the 2nd category. You have therefore been approved for a lump sum pay out of €2,000,000.00 (Two Million Euros only)

Note that all participants in this lottery program have been selected randomly through a computer ballot system drawn from over 20,000 companies and 30,000,000 individual email addresses from all search engines and websites. This promotional program takes place every year, and is promoted and sponsored by eminent personalities like the Sultan of Brunei and other corporate organizations to encourage the use of the Internet and computers worldwide.

For security purpose and clarity, we advise that you keep your winning information confidential until your claims have been processed and your money remitted to you. This is part of our security protocol to avoid double claims and unwarranted abuse of this program by some participants.

You are requested to contact our Lottery coordinator strictly by the email below: atlpromoltd@aim.com. This is to assist you with your winnings and subsequent payments immediately. All winnings must be claimed not later than one month after the date of this notice. 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. Congratulations once more and thank you for being part of our promotional program.

NOTE: YOU ARE AUTOMATICALLY DISQUALIFIED IF YOU ARE BELOW 18 YEARS OF AGE OR SEEN TO DOUBLE CLAIM THROUGH ANY OTHER COORDINATOR.
Sincerely yours


MR. PAUL JONES
(LOTTERY COORDINATOR)
atlpromoltd@aim.com

Anti-fraud resources: