419 Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam (2006-01)

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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.

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:
- "claim agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "hundred thousand great british pounds" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "barrister" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
- "barr." (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
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!
Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.

Fraud email example:

From: MRS REMI OYO <mrsremi_presidency@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Sat, 12 Jun 2010 04:20:22 +0000 (GMT)
Subject: =?utf-8?B?R3JhdHVsdWplbWUgdmHFoWUgZS1tYWlsb3bDoSBwcsOhdsSbIHZ5aHLDoWwg?=
=?utf-8?B?cHJvYsOtaGFqw61jw60gc3bEm3RvdsOpaG8gcG9ow6FydSBzcGxhc2ggdiBK?=
=?utf-8?B?acW+bsOtIEFmcmljZSAyMDEw?=

VÃ¡Å¾enÃ vÃtÄ›z,

Gratulujeme jste vyhrÃ¡li 1, 500, 000, 00GBP.One milion pÄ›t set tisÃc VelkÃ¡ britskÃ¡ libra vÃtÄ›znÃ© Ä.: 24/2/6/37/15/45 s letenkou ÄÃslo: B9665 75604546 199 v prÃ¡vÄ› uzavÅ™enÃ© Äerpat konala na podporu JihoafrickÃ© republiky MistrovstvÃ svÄ›ta 2010,

ProsÃm volejte nebo kontaktujte svÃ©ho nÃ¡roku agent prostÅ™ednictvÃm e-mailu Barrister Richard Duke v JiÅ¾nÃ Africe:
E-mail: barr.richard_duke1@live.com
Dejte agent to info:
VaÅ¡e jmÃ©no
Adresa
vÃ½hernÃ ÄÃslo
Telefon
VÄ›k
PohlavÃ
NÃ¡rodnost
SpoleÄnost a povolÃ¡nÃ.
S pÅ™Ã¡telskÃ½m pozdravem,
PanÃ Rebecca Auris
(ZonÃ¡lnÃ koordinÃ¡tor)

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Dear winner,

CongratulationÂ you have won 1, 500, 000, 00GBP.One Million Five Hundred Thousand Great British Pounds winning No: 24/2/6/37/15/45 with a ticket number: B9665 75604546 199 in the just concluded draw held to promote South African 2010 World Cup,

PLEASE CALL OR contact YOUR CLAIM agent THROUGH EMAIL Barrister Richard DukeÂ IN SOUTH AFRICAN:
E-mail: barr.richard_duke1@live.com
Give your agent this info:
Your Name
Address
winning number
Telephone
Age
Sex
Nationality
Company and Occupation.
Yours Sincerely,
Mrs. Rebecca Auris
(Zonal coordinator)

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam