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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
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  (+225 +229 +234 +27 +31 +32 +34 +44 other)
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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.

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:

• An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
• The following fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
  • "australian lottery" (can only win this lottery if you bought a ticket)
  • "international lottery programme" (no such lottery exists)
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
  • "from the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "cheque " (Beware of any scheme that involves cashing checks or money orders and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere - you'll be liable for the entire amount if the checks or money orders turn out to be fake, even after you have received and forwarded cash. If it's a lottery prize, remember that real lotteries do not pay large prizes by check. They wire the money directly to your bank account and you do not pay for that. Many scammers promise a large check only in order to then demand payment of courier fees for a fake courier service. )
• This email message is a fake lottery scam. Consider the following facts about real lotteries:
  
  1. They don't notify winners by email.
  2. You can't win without first buying a lottery ticket.
  3. They don't randomly select email addresses to award prizes to.
  4. They don't use free email accounts (Yahoo, Hotmail, etc) to communicate with you.
  5. They don't tell you to call a mobile phone number.
  6. They don't tell you to keep your winnings secret.
  7. They will never ask a winner to pay any fees to receive a prize!
• This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
  • payment_divi_dept_01@yahoo.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: austrail anlottry_010 <austrailanlottry_010@yahoo.com>
Date: Wed, 27 Jun 2007 14:48:42 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS! CONGRATULATIONS!!





FROM THE DESK OF,THE BOARD AND MANAGEMENT OF
AUSTRALIAN INTERNATIONAL LOTTERY PROGRAMME WE ARE HEREBY INFORM YOU WINNING NOTIFICATION

AUSTRALIAN LOTTERY INC,
6123 COOL STREET ROAD
SOMEWHEREVALUE AX34587,

Batch: 7050470902/189
Winning no: GB8101/LPRC

CONGRATULATIONS! CONGRATULATIONS!!

Dear Sir/Madam,

We are delighted to inform you of your prize which was released on the 22th of JUN 2007, from the Australian International Lottery programme,which is fully based on an electronic selection of winnersusing their e-mail addresses from some sites. Your e-mail address was attached to ticket number; 47001725 07056490108 and serial number 7741134002. This batch draws the lucky numbers as follows 5-13-33-37-42 and bonus number 17,which consequently won the lottery in the second category. You hereby have been approved alump sum pay of US$200,000.00 (TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS) in cash credit file ref: ILP/HW 47509/09 from the total cash prize shared amongst eight lucky winners in this category. All participants were selected through a computer balloting system drawn form Nine hundred thousand E-mail addresses from Canada, Australia,United States, Asia,Europe, Middle East, Africa and Oceania as part of our international promotion program which is conducted annually. This Lottery
was promoted and sponsored by a conglomorate of some multinational companies as part of their social responsibility to the citizens in the commmunities where they have an operational base.


Furthermore, your details(e-mail address) falls within our European representative office in Amsterdam,Holland as indicated in your play
coupon and your prize of US$200,000.00 will be released to you from this regional branch office in NIGERIA. We hope that with part of your prize, you will participate in our end of year high stakes for US$1.3 Billion international draw.

HOW TO CLAIM YOUR PRIZE: Simply contact our fiducial agent,
MR MARK HUGGARD is to file for your claim. Please quote your reference, batch and winning number which canbe found on the top left corner of the notification as well as your full name, address and telephone number to help locate your file easily. For security reasons, we advice all winners to keep this information confidential from the public until your claim is processed and your prize released to you. This is part of our security protocol to avoid double claiming and unwarranted taking advantage of this programme by non-participants or unofficial personnel.

It will help locate your file easily. For security reasons, we advice all winners to keep this information confidential from the public until your claim is processed and your prize released to you. This is part of our security protocol to avoid double claiming and unwarranted taking advantage of this programme by non-participants or unofficial personnel.Note,all winnings MUST claimed their prize on or before 31th JUN 2007; otherwise all funds will be returned as Unclaimed and eventually donated to charity home organisations.
OUR PAST WINNERSS JUBLIATING IN EXCITEMENT


PLEASE CONTACT DR. BRAYN PATRICK, so that he will
tell you of how you will receive your winning prize.
Name:MR MARK HUGGARD
payment_divi_dept_01@yahoo.com

Congratulations once again.
Yours in service,




Sarah Spencer(co-ordinator)

( NOTE THIS)
we gave you paying bank in African , the authority not to touch your
money ( $200,000,00) or to deduct any money form it until you receive it,
cos we the board of management deposited your money in bulk cheque ($200,000,00).
we the board of management advised you to follow the bank directives
to Aviod double claiming.

PLEASE DO NOT REPLY THIS EMAIL. CONTACT YOUR CLAIMS
AGENT AT ANY BREACH OF CONFIDENTIALITY ON THE PART OF THE WINNERS WILL RESULT TO DISQUALIFICATION.

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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam