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

joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet

Try our spam filter!
Free trial for 30 days

Home

About Us

Spam

419/Nigeria

Fraud

Contact

"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:
- "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
- "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "into your nominated bank account" (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)
- ",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)
- "very confidential" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a scam)
- "barrister" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
- "foreign remittance department" (Banks mentioned in 419 scams are always fake (real banks don't communicate using mobile phones or free webmail addresses))
- "ccnl@aol.nl" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- "pcnl@aol.nl" (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!
Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.

Fraud email example:

From: "Karin Meijer" <karinmeijer112@yahoo.nl>
Date: Sat, 23 Feb 2013 14:43:40 +0200
Subject: CONTACT FOR CLAIM VISA-MASTER CREDIT CARD (YOU HAVE
WON) !!!

CONTACT FOR CLAIM VISA-MASTER CREDIT CARD (YOU HAVE
WON) !!!

This is the official letter sent to Visa/Master credit cards Lottery Winners.

Foreign Remittance Dept Visa/Master Credit Card

Attn: Serial No: DPA910-77NL, Serial No: DPA910-77NL, Batch No: EUR/688-DPL

Dear Sir/Madam

We are pleased to inform you the result of the computer random selection
for the VISA/MASTER CARD in conjunction with Msn, Yahoo, Aol, and other
service provider, International program held on 20th of January 2013. Your
personal or company email address, attached to serial number DPA910-77NL
drew the lucky numbers 7-9-5-3-9-11-5, and consequently won the lottery in
the 2nd category.

The email lottery draws was conducted from an exclusive list of 1,000,000
e-mail addresses of individual, companies, and corporate bodies picked by
an advanced automated random computer search ballot system from ACTIVE
EMAILS from all web sites, Msn, Yahoo, Aol, and other email provider from
the INTERNET.

HOW DID YOU WIN AND HOW DO WE GOT YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS The selection
process was carried out through random selection in our computerized email
selection system from a database of over 1,000,000 email addresses drawn
from all the continents of the world which your email, was among the first
2 lucky winners, (NO TICKETS WERE SOLD). As a result, you have therefore
been approved for a lump sum pay out of (One Million Five Hundred United
States Dollars) $1.5m in cash credited to REF NO: EURML/717NL and Batch
No: EUR/688-DPL.

Also, be informed that your funds have now been deposited and insured with
our affiliate security firm for transfer into your nominated bank account
either by means of wire transfers through any of our correspondent banks
or any other means suitable to you. We also advise that you keep your
winning information very confidential as our security policy demands to
avoid double claims/impersonation and unwarranted taking advantage of this
program by participants. To begin your claims, you are urgently requested
to contact our claims agent immediately and the quote the following to our
Foreign Remittance Department as indicated below:

1. Full Names

2. Batch Numbers

3. Age

4. Occupation

5. Telephone Number(s)

6. Nationality

*******************************

Barrister: Hendrik Jan

Foreign Remittance Dept

Email: ccnl@aol.nl

Email: pcnl@aol.nl

*******************************

Remember, all winnings must be claim not later than 30th of March 2013.
After this date all unclaimed funds will be return to the promotion
company. Congratulation and thank you for being part of our promotional
program.

Yours sincerely,

Mrs. Karin Meijer
(Claims Coordinator)
Visa Master Credit Cards

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam