joewein.net   joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet
Try our spam filter!
Free trial for 30 days
  jwSpamSpy

Home
About Us
Spam
419/Nigeria
Fraud
Contact

"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.

Click here to report a problem with this page.

 

 

Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: Mr Edward Hanks <fiduciary_agent_002@yahoo.com.hk>
Date: Mon, 1 Oct 2007 23:48:53 +0800 (CST)
Subject: VERIFICATION AND FUND RELEASE FORM


EUROPEAN ONLINE GAMES DEPT.
HEAD OFFICE
P.O. BOX 1764
VICTORIA SW1V 4DP
LONDON, ENGLAND.

Attention:Winner,

EUROPEAN ONLINE GAMES DEPT,computer balloting lottery system draws 2007 with the following detail to have emerged you one of the lucky winner,
REFERENCE: UKLT/245512568021/07
Batch: 5368/02/07
Lucky numbers: (13)-(43)-(06)-(15)-(02)-(40) Lotto bonus(09)
Ticket number: 56475600545 188
Your claims file has been duly forwarded to my office with specific
instructions that our department shall be handling the processing of
your prize of ¢G870,000GBP,to you.
1. You are required to fill a "VERIFICATION FORM" with all necessary
details to process your winnings. Please see below the manual Form.
Kindly send to us the detailed information below for due processing of
your winnings as email attachment for due processing.

VERIFICATION AND FUND RELEASE FORM
1. FULL NAMES:__________________________________
2. ADDRESS:_____________________________________________
____________________________________________
3. SEX:_______________
4. AGE:________
5. MARITAL STATUS:___________________
6. OCCUPATION:________________________
7. E-MAIL ADDRESS:_____________________________
8. TELEPHONE NUMBER:_____________________
9. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF COMPANY/INDIVIDUAL___________
10. AMOUNT WON:___________________________________
11. COUNTRY________________________________
DECLARATION:
I, ____________, HEREBY DECLARE THAT I HAVE NEVER RECEIVED ANY
SETTLEMENT FROM THE NATIONAL LOTTERY PROGRAM OR ANY MEMBER OF MY FAMILY FILED CLAIM ON MY BEHALF TO FREE LOTTERY INTERNATIONAL PROMOTION. I THEREFORE AUTHORIZE, THE NATIONAL LOTTERY PROGRAM TO ACT ON MY BEHALF IN THE PROCESSING AND SEND MY PRIZE AS INSTRUCTED BY ME.
SIGNATURE :( TYPE IN YOUR NAMES): ________________________________
DATE: ________________________
Carefully fill out this Information and send back to us by email.
You are required to respond and act promptly to all instructions
provided above to ensure a hitch free process with collecting your
prize.
Contact the European Online Lottery Team immediately if you encounters
any problems submitting your VERIFICATION FORM or wish to clarify any
issue(s).

Regards,
European Online Lottery Team

---------------------------------
Yahoo! ¥þ·s¤É¯Åºô¤W¬Ûï¡AÅý§A¥Ñ¬Û¤ù¤¤¤À¨É¥Í¬¡ÂIºw! ¥ß§Y¥þ­±¸Õ¥Î

Anti-fraud resources: