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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
• "Is that email a scam?" - Check it online here!
  
• Frequently asked Questions (419 FAQ)
• 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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• What can you do when you receive 419 spam
  
  
• Spam archive, Daily index
  

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 phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "claims office" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
• 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.
  • officer.jakelewis2@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: (sent from abused email account)
Reply-To: officer.jakelewis2@gmail.com
Date: Tue, 11 Nov 2008 11:59:24 GMT
Subject: You Have Won 765,000 GBP




We are very pleased to inform you that your e-mail address has been accreditted with our winning lottery ticket number during the online promotions which as won you the sum of seven hundred and sixty five thousand pounds sterling (765,000 GBP).

In other to claim the prize; you are expected to contact the claims officer after filling the claims form below:

Full Names:________________________
Residential Address:________________________
Telephone:________________________
Age:________________________
Sex:________________________
Occupation:________________________
Country:________________________

After completing the form, kindly email it to the claims officer at the email address below

Mr. Jake Lewis
officer.jakelewis2@gmail.com

We congratulate you on your win.

Mr. Greg Smith

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam