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:

This email uses a separate reply address that is different from the sender address. Spammers use this to get replies even when the original spam sending accounts have been shut down. Also, sometimes the sender addresses are legitimate looking but fake and only the reply address is actually an email account controlled by the scammers.
The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "hundred thousand united states dollars" (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)
- "scbtransfer@live.com" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- "scbtransfer@live.com" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- "scbtransfer@live.com" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.

Fraud email example:

From: Yahoo! <gbadoka@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: scbtransfer@live.com
Date: Thu, 22 Jul 2010 02:05:28 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: =?iso-8859-1?Q?=AE_CONGRATULATIONS!_=AE_YOU_HAVE_WON_US=24500=2C000=2E00_?=
=?iso-8859-1?Q?=AE?=

YAHOO & MICROSOFT CLASSIC
AWARD
No. 701
First Avenue, Sunnyvale,
California, United States Of America
U.S.A. P.O. Box 94089.

CONGRATULATIONS!
Dear E-mail User,

THIS IS A GENUINE AWARD FROM
YAHOO
INC BRINGING TO
YOUR NOTICE THAT YOU HAVE WON THE SUM OF FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND UNITED STATES
DOLLARS
(US$500,000..00) IN THE INTRODUCTION OF THE NEW YAHOO!
MAIL CLASSIC. YOUR
EMAIL ADDRESS IS AMONG THE FIVE LUCKY WINNERS AFTER CARRYING OUT THE ELECTRONIC
BALLOTING SYSTEM (E.B.S) IN A
RANDOM SELECTION
METHOD YOUR E-MAIL
AND NAME WAS SELECTED, CONGRATULATIONS!

YOUR PAYMENT APPROVAL FILE HAS
BEEN SENT TO AFRICA DUE TO THERE ARE THREE LUCKY WINNERS FROM THERE AND YOU WILL
BE PAID AMONG WITH THEM, SIMULTANEOUSLY TO AVOID TOO MANY PROTOCOLS.

.................PAYMENT OF PRIZE
AND CLAIM..............
CONTACT THE AFRICAN LOCATION
AGENT:
MR. SIMON MILLET
E-MAIL:
scbtransfer@live.com
scbtransfer@live.com

YOUR IDENTIFICATION NUMBERS
ARE:
BATCH
NUMBER......SCB/MSW/LOTTONL
REFF
NUMBER.........UNIT/DEPT-234/AFNG
WINNING
NUMBER..YMCS-E-LOTTO/3331225

FILL YOUR PERSONAL
INFORMATION:
FULL NAME...
COUNTRY......
CONTACT ADDRESS...
PHONE NUMBER.......
MARITAL STATUS......
OCCUPATION.....
AGE.......
SEX........

KINDLY SEND YOUR IDENTIFICATION
NUMBERS AND YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION TO MR. SIMON MILLET THROUGH HIS EMAIL
ADDRESS: (scbtransfer@live.com) IMMEDIATELY IF YOU WANT HIM AND THE ASSIGNED
BANK TO PAY YOU.

NOTE: ANY PRIZE THAT IS NOT
CLAIMED WITHIN SEVEN DAYS OF RECEIVING THIS AWARD NOTIFICATION WILL BE
CANCELED.

YOURS SINCERELY,
(MICROSOFT & YAHOO INC VICE
PRESIDENT)

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam