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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: Morris Schlettwein <euromegamillionorg@walla.com>
Reply-To: mrsmchmidts@yahoo.es
Date: Thu, 10 Aug 2006 18:23:28 -0700
Subject: PAYMENT NOTIFICATION


Attention: Sir/Madam,
RE: PRIZE PAYMENT NOTIFICATION
We are pleased to inform you of the official announcement yesterday of the winners of the Euromegamillions International Lottery Programme held on Friday 7th July 2006.
You or your company, attached to ticket number 7FM8-GE83,serial number 29B-739Z drew the lucky numbers 03-20-31-45-50-06-07, and consequently won the lottery in the international category.
You have therefore been approved for a lumpsum Payment of US$1,200,000.00 (One million,two hundred thousand USD) in cash credited to file with Ref No: ERM/820G/06S9R and Batch No: 06/HL4G/UK.
This is from total prize money of US$30,000,000.00 shared among 25 international winners in this category.All participants were selected through a computer balloting system drawn from over 285,000 companies and individuals from Australia, New Zealand, Africa, Europe, North America, South America and Asia as part our International promotions program for the year 2006, conducted bi-annually.
Congratulations!
Your fund is now deposited with our finance company in the United Kingdom and insured in your name.
Due to the mix up of some numbers and names, we ask that you keep this award strictly private from public notice until your claim has been fully processed and your total prize money remitted to your designated bank account.
This is part of our security protocol to avoid double claiming or unscrupulous acts by participants of this program. We hope with a part of your prize money, you will participate in our end of year high stakes of US$70 Million International lottery jackpot slot to be held in December 2006.

For the immediate collection of your prize money, Please contact directly our Payment Administrator in the United Kingdom:
Marylyn Schmidts
Payment Administrator
Euromegamillions Payoffice
London E14 9NQ,United Kingdom
Tel/Fax:+448704781626
E-mail:marylynschmidts@aggies.com
Your prize money must be claimed before 25th August 2006, after this date all unclaimed funds/Winnings will be rolled over and returned back to the treasury as Invalid.All correspondences to MARYLYN SCHMIDTS should have this email sent along with it along with your Contact Address, Country of residence and your Email address.
Furthermore, should there be any change of your Contact Address, do inform our Payment Administrator as soon as possible.
Congratulations again from all our staff and thank you for being part of our programme.
Sincerely,
Morris Schlettwein
Vice-Presidents, Awards
Rue Marterey 15 Case Postale 6744 1002 Lausanne,Switzerland
NOTE. Any breach of confidentiality on the part of the winners will result to instant disqualification.
PLEASE CONTACT MARYLYN SCHMIDTS BY E-MAIL, TELEPHONE OR FAX IMMEDIATELY.

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