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:
- "fiduciary agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- ",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)
- "00,000.00" (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)
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: "Royal Dutch Shell Gro
up" <info@shell.com>
Date: Wed, 24 Aug 2011 16:28:33 +0600 (BDT)
Subject: WINNING NOTIFICATION,

Royal Dutch Shell Group
Shell headquarters
Carel van Bylandtlaan 16, 2596 HR The Hague, The Netherlands

Postal address:
PO box 162, 2501 AN The Hague, The Netherlands

WINNING NOTIFICATION,

We happily announce to you the Lotto Winning of the Royal Dutch Shell
Lottery, online promo held in August 2011. Your email address match
with Ticket Numbers: 7673899373ST with Serial Number: 779937/SN which
subsequently won you in the Lottery promo.

You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of $5,000,000.00
(Five Million USD) in cash.

All participants for the online version were selected randomly from
Royal Dutch Shell Database worldwide, Royal Dutch Shell must have had
your contact from the purchase you have made or the entry of your data
on the masterlist relating to Shell or it's Petroleum/Gas Products.

Our European Agent will immediately commence the processing to
facilitate the release of your funds as soon as you contact him.
For security reasons you are advised to keep your winning information
confidential till your claims is processed and your money remitted to
you in whatever manner you deem fit to claim your prize. This is part
of our precautionary measure to avoid double claiming and unwarranted
abuse of this program.

PLEASE NOTE!

To file for your claims, please contact the Fiduciary Agent:
Mrs. Elizabeth Johnson
E-mail: rshellgroup@bitscn.net

Provide her with the below details for payment processing:
FULL NAMES:....................
ADDRESS:.........COUNTRY:......
GENDER:...........AGE:.........
OCCUPATION:....................
TELEPHONE/CELL NUMBER:.........
AMOUNT WON:....................

Your Sincerely,
MR. LESTER JOHN STOVER
Online Co-ordinator ROYAL DUTCH SHELL LOTTERY International Sweepstakes.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam