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.
Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:
The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
"fiduciary agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
This email message is a fake lottery scam. Consider the following facts about real lotteries:
They don't notify winners by email.
You can't win without first buying a lottery ticket.
They don't randomly select email addresses to award prizes to.
They don't use free email accounts (Yahoo, Hotmail, etc) to communicate with you.
They don't tell you to call a mobile phone number.
They don't tell you to keep your winnings secret.
They will never ask a winner to pay any fees to receive a prize!
This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
+447031845766 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
EUROPEAN-LOTTO Headquarters: The Marina Offices, St PetersYachtBasin, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 1HX England.
Customer Service Ref: EU/9420X2/68 Batch: 074/05/ZY369
WINNING NOTIFICATION/ PROCESSING ADVISE
We happily announce to you the draw (#508) of the EUROPEAN LOTTERY,online Sweepstakes International program held on Thursday 13th of July, 2006 in NEWCASTLE, UNITED-KINGDOM.
Your e-mail address attached to ticket number: 56475600545 188 with Serial number 5368/02 drew the lucky numbers: 02 . 13 . 27 . 33 . 36 . 48. [12] Bonus Ball, which subsequently won you the lottery in the 2nd category i.e match 6. You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of £2,000,000(Two million Pounds Sterling) in cash, credited to file ktu/9023118308/03. This is from a total cash prize, shared amongst the first Ten (10) lucky winners in this category.
All participants for this online version were selected randomly from World Wide Web sites through computer draw system and extracted from over 100,000 unions, associations, and corporate bodies that are listed online. This promotion takes place weekly.
Please note that your lucky winning number falls within our European booklet representative office in Europe as indicated in your play coupon. In view of this, your £850,000(Eight Hundred and fifty Thousand Pounds Sterling) will be released to you by any of our payment offices in Europe.
Our European agent will immediately commence the process to facilitate the release of your funds as soon as you contact him. For security reasons, you are advised to keep your winning information confidential till your claim is processed and your money remitted to you in whatever manner you deem fit to receive your prize. This is part of our precautionary measure to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program.
Please be warned!!
To file for your claim, contact our fiduciary agent:
Note that all prize funds must be claimed not later than two weeks after the notification. After this date all funds will be returned to our treasury as unclaimed.
You are adviced to quote your ticket and lucky numbers to our fiduciary agent in order to avoid unnecessary delays and complications. . Furthermore, should there be any change in your address, do inform our fiduciary agent as soon as possible. For the immediate release of your payments you are to provide the following details to our fiduciary agent;
Congratulations once again from all the staff here. In order to verify your winnings, we need your particulars for record purposes, Attached here is a copy of our verifications form, please fill accordingly so as to proceed with your winnings. Once again congratulations from all the staff.
First Name:
Last Name:
Winning Email
Phone Number:
ext U.S. and Canada only.
Address:
Zip / Postal code:
City:
State:
Country:
AMOUNT WON:
ANNUAL INCOME:
OCCUPATION:
TICKET NUMBER:
SERIAL NUMBER:
B. DRAW NUMBER:
MARITAL STATUS:
SEX:
AGE:
Lotto winning number:
Courier Company
Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT)
QUICK PICK
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Upon receipt of the duly requested data, I will send you the contact information of the payment office so you can proceed the release of your funds.
Remember that this program is organised to enhance unity and also encourage all micro-soft users all over the world Congratulations once again from all members of our staff, and thank you for being part of our promotions program
Yours faithfully,
Mrs. Rose Peter.
Online co-ordinator for EUROPEAN LOTTERY Sweepstakes International Program
CONFIDENTIAL NOTICE:This email message, including any attachments, is intended only for the use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain information that is privileged, confidential and prohibited from unauthorized disclosure under applicable law. If you are not the intended recipient of this message, any dissemination, distribution or copying of this message is strictly prohibited. If you received this message in error, please notify the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.
