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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
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• Phone numbers used by 419 scammers
  (+225 +229 +234 +27 +31 +32 +34 +44 other)
• Company names mentioned in 419 spam:
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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:

• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "money laundering" ("anti-terrorist", "anti-money laundering" or "drug-free" certificates are a common way for criminals in fake lottery scams and other Advance Fee scams to get you to send money to them. There are no such certificates in the real banking world. )
  • "activation fee" (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. )
  • "insurance fee " (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. )
  • "deadline" (they are rushing you so you don't have time to think properly)
  • "affidavit " (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
  • "courier service" (Courier companies mentioned in 419 scams are always fake. They will have you send money to them, but won't deliver anything. )
  • "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 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.
  • +447011133390 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: CITY TRUST BANK PLC <citytrustbankplc_02@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2007 17:05:53 +0100 (BST)
Subject: Attn: Drud Herz (Options)


CITY TRUST BANK PLC.
31 Windermere Close,Manchester
M11 2AF United Kingdom.

Tel: (+44) 701-113-3390, 704-570-1844

Fax: 00-44-870 -974- 1620

Attn: Drud Herz Date:25/07/2007

We are in receipt of your Mail and content was well noted, however we congratulate you on being one of the very lucky winner of the 2007 Edition of The NOKIA COMPANY ONLINE PROMOTION/PRIZE AWARD, As we also want you to know that after the verification process conducted, the Administrative department and promotions department has just approved your payment, and the funds is now deposited in our BANK in your favour.

As we also want you to be Inform that the process of claiming your winning funds has been made very simple so that by the end of two weeks at most, you are assured of having received your cash prize, As we want to know that the first step in the claims process is to make selection from any the Following Option below.

1. ELECTRONIC TRANSFER.
If you want to us to Transfer your Winning Funds into your Bank Account in your Country, kindly let us know so that we can send you the Transfer Form to enable you fill in the Account details you will want us to Transfer your winning funds to, and retune the form by E-mail attachment or fax, and Note that your Transfer is going to be done electronic transfer as it will take three working days to reflect in your given Account.

Note: you will be required to pay for the Cost of Transfer which is 2,700.00 Pounds (Two Thousand Seven Hundred Pounds).

2. DELIVERY OF YOUR WINNING CHEQUE
If you want us to send you the Winning Cheque and the original copy of your winning certificate, together with a covering document (Money Laundering protection and Letter of Affidavit for Claims) from the British government stating that the money was obtained legally through (NOKIA COMPANY ONLINE PROMOTION/PRIZE AWARD) to your House or Office Address that you will provide for us, kindly let us know so that we can Make Arrangement with WORLD EXPRESS COURIER SERVICES INT to deliver your parcel to you.

Note: you will be required to pay for the Delivery Charges and The Insurance Fee of the WORLD EXPRESS COURIER SERVICES INT which is 460.00 Pounds (Four Hundred and Sixty Pounds).

3. ACCOUNT OPENING.
If you wish to set up a New Bank account in this Bank so that we can deposit your Winning funds On it as that we enable you to make Transfer Online to any Bank Account in the world and your Debit Card will also be send along with the Cheque Book to your House Address as soon as the account is been created.

Note: you will be required to pay for the Activation Fee which is 1,000.00 Pounds (One Thousand Pounds) which will also be added to your Account Balance.

Note: the reason behind the fee is because your Winnings prize is been protected by a hard cover insurance policy, which makes it impossible to deduct any amount from the money before it can be remitted to you. This means that the above charges cannot be deducted from the prize and hence must be provided by you before your prize is transferred to you.


This is in accordance with section 13(1)(n) of the national gambling act as adopted in 1993 and amended on 3RD july 1996 by the constitutional assembly.This is to protect winners and to avoid misappropriation of funds

Please respond to this email by making a selection from the (3) options above. Also fax or attach a copy of either your driver's license, international passport (photo page) or any other legally identifying document for proved of winner In order to avoid double Claim.

Also be reminded that the deadline for the claiming of winnings is exactly Two weeks after the receipt of this email. After this period, your cash prize will be deemed to have been forfeited by you and will be reused in the drawings of the next edition of the Promotion.

Hope to hear from you with the Option you will like to use.

Regards,
Mr. Frank .B. Page
City Trust Bank Plc.
Online Department Service.




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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam