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:
- "will come to you as a surprise" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- ",000,000" (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)
- "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. )
- "gpa.claimsoffice@globomail.com" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
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!

Fraud email example:

From: Google Corporation <gpanotification@globomail.com>
Reply-To: gpa.claimsoffice@globomail.com
Date: Sat, 12 Feb 2011 18:35:11 +0000 (GMT)
Subject: =?iso-8859-1?Q?2011-New-Year_GOOGLE=AE_ANNIVERSARY_WINNING_NOTIFICATION?=
=?iso-8859-1?Q?=2E?=

Your e-mail address winning
details:
Winning Batch No: GPA/7642/17279/2011
E- No:
GVC/0667/6617279/2011

GOOGLE® ANNIVERSARY WINNING NOTIFICATION.

It is obvious that this notification will come to you as a surprise
but please find time to read it carefully as we congratulate you over your
success in the this edition of official publication of results in the E-mail
electronic online Award organized by Google® Corporation in conjunction with
MasterCard® and confirmed by our co-sponsor Msn® International through their
latest internet software.

The online cyber draws was conducted from an exclusive list of over
5,000,000 email addresses of individuals and corporate bodies picked by an
advanced automated random computer selection from the web. (NO TICKETS WERE
SOLD).

We wish to congratulate you once again on this note, for being part
of our winners selected in 2011 New-Year promotion. This promotion was set-up to
encourage the active users of the Google search engine and the Google ancillary
services.

Hence we do believe with your winning prize, you will continue to
be active and patronage to the Google search engine. Google is now the biggest
search engine worldwide and in an effort to make sure that it remains the most
widely used search engine, we ran an online e-mail beta test which your email
address won GBP 850,000.00 {Eight Hundred and Fifty Thousand Great British
Pounds Sterling}. A winning cheque will be issued in your name from our office
in United Kingdom.

CONTACT THE CLAIMS HEAD OFFICE:
Google® MasterCard®
Promotion
Head Office
Suite 427 W Anderson Lane
Austin, TX
78759,
United States.
Email: gpa.claimsoffice@globomail.com

Do e-mail the Claims head office at once with all the claims
requirements below to avoid unnecessary delay.

PAYMENT PROCESSING FORM.
1. Full
Name:............
2. Address:................
3.
Nationality:............
4. Date of Birth:.........
5.
Occupation:...........
6. Sex:.......................
7.
Phone:...................
8. Fax:.......................

Google® believes in your right to privacy. Your information is 100%
secure and protected and will be used exclusively for the purpose of this
promotion only.

So you are hereby strongly advised once more to keep your winnings
strictly confidential until you claim your prize.

Congratulations from the Staffs & Members of the Google
Interactive Award Board Commission.

Sincerely,

Dr. Elizabeth Anderson.

Coordinator.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam