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:

An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
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:
- "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)
- "(ecowas)" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
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!
This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
- +442035145437
This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- clemons_phillip@hotmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: Shell International Ltd <shell.14thanniversary@shell.co.uk>
Reply-To: clemons_phillip@consultant.com
Date: Sun, 09 Mar 2014 19:18:49 -0400
Subject: Notification Letter: =?iso-8859-1?b?ozUwMCwwMDAuMDBHQlA=?=
Awarded, Congratulation!!!

SHELL INTERNATIONAL LTD
SHELL FOUNDATION LONDON, SE1 7NA.
Reference Number: 575061725
Batch Number: 8056490902/188
Winning Numbers: 1 2 26 30 40 21

Dear Donation Beneficiary,

NOTIFICATION OF YOUR WINNING

The Shell Foundation London is glad to inform you that you have been
approved a lump sum pay of £500,000.00 (FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND POUNDS)
in cash credit file ref: ILP/HW 46704/03 from the total cash prize
shared amongst eight lucky winners in this category.

All participants were selected through a computer balloting system
drawn from Nine hundred thousand E-mail addresses from Canada,
Australia, United States, Asia, Europe, Middle East, Africa and
Oceania as part of our international promotions program which is
conducted annually. This Lottery was promoted and sponsored by a
conglomerate of some multinational companies as part of their social
responsibility to the citizens in the communities where they have
operational base.

The Shell Foundation London was established in the year 2000 by the
Shell Multi-Million Groups and is now supported by the United Nations
(UN), European Union (EU), and the Economic Community of West African
States (ECOWAS).

To celebrate the 14th anniversary program, the Shell Foundation
London, in conjunction with some multi national companies and other
relevant bodies is giving out a yearly donation of £500,000.00 (FIVE
HUNDRED THOUSAND POUNDS) to eight lucky recipients.

These specific Donations/Grants will be awarded to recipients
worldwide, in different categories for their personal business
development and enhancement of their educational plans. Kindly note
that you will only be chosen to receive the donation once, which means
that subsequent yearly donation will not get to you again.

You were selected among the lucky recipients to receive the award sum
of £500,000.00 (FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND POUNDS) as charity donations/aid
from the Shell Foundation London in accordance with the enabling act
of Parliament. So at your convenient time, Kindly contact the
consultant on his email stated below:

Name: Clemons PHILLIP (RCA)
Email: clemons_phillip@hotmail.com
Telefone: +442035145437

Do send him an email as directed above for collection of your quota
but make sure you include the below so they will attend to you
accordingly else they might ignore your letter.

*Your Full Names
*Your Telephone and Fax Numbers
*Your Recent Resident Address
*Email Address
*Occupation/ Age

Quote your reference, batch and winning number which can be found on
the top left corner of this notification.

For security reasons, we advice all winners to keep this information
confidential from the public until your claim is processed and your
prize released to you. This is part of our security protocol to avoid
double claiming and unwarranted taking advantage of this programme by
non-participant or unofficial personnel. All information is strictly
confidential and will only be used for the purpose to which it is been
requested.

Finally, their respective beneficiaries should claim all funds, not
later than 28 days after notification. Failure to do so will result to
outright cancellation.

On behalf of the entire Board, I say Congratulations!!

Best Regards,
Sir Chris West
Grants Coordinator

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam