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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: GOOGLE INFO <google@google11.orangehome.co.uk>
Date: Tue, 24 Oct 2006 20:53:20 +0200 (CEST)
Subject: CONTACT: YOU HAVE WON


INTERNATIONAL PROMOTION PROGRAM
GOOGLE LOTTO
WESTERN AVE. 9800

Dear Lucky Winner,
CONSOLATION PRIZE WINNING NOTICE!!!
Congratulations to you as we bring to your notice, the results of the First Category draws of E-MAIL LOTTERY organised by GOOGLE 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 were held on 29TH of September 2006 and results are being officially announced today 24TH of October 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 675432890044/376, with serial number 2200-33 drew the lucky numbers 1-0-11-44-03-22 and consequently won in the First Category. You have therefore been awarded a lump sum pay out of One Million (1,000,000.00) Euro, which is the winning payout for Category A winners. This is from the total prize money from 1,500,000 Euro shared among the 2 winners in this category.
Your fund is now deposited with the paying Bank. In your best interest to avoid mix up of numbers and names of any kind, 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 participants / non participants of this program. 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, kindly contact your CLAIMS agent.
Contact Person:
Mr.George Paniou,
Trust Claims Agency
TEL: 0030-694-497-3565
Email:trustclaims@aim.com
THINOS 73, 10722,
ATHENS GREECE
You are advised to contact the agents by email.
NOTE: For easy reference and identification, find below your reference and Batch numbers. Remember to quote these numbers in every one of your correspondence with your claims agent. Reference Nr: AMC/231-ILGI0431/06. Batch Nr: EOS/15/096/TVFS Congratulations once again from all our staff and thank you for being part of our promotions program.
Yours Sincerely,
Mrs. Wendy Witkamp
(Group Coordinator)

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