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:

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:
- "will come to you as a surprise" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "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. )
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 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.
- goolgleverifydept@163.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: =?utf-8?q?=22POWERED_BY_GOOGLE=C2=A9=22_=3Cisoumu=40skk-sugawa=2Eco=2Ejp?=
=?utf-8?q?=3E?=
Reply-To: goolgleverifydept@163.com
Date: Tue, 10 May 2016 18:58:13 -0500
Subject: OFFICIAL NOTIFICATION LETTER.

Dear ventas@distele.com
Google UK Ltd
Belgrave House
76 Buckingham Palace Road London SW1W 9TQ United Kingdom.
Ref No: GFSP/ 7748/782/2015 Batch: GFSP/ 955/GPWIN/UK
=

OFFICIAL NOTIFICATION LETTER.
=

It is obvious that this notification will come to you as a surprise but pl=
ease find time to read it carefully as we congratulate you over your succes=
s in the following official publication of results of the E-mail Electronic=
Online Sweepstakes Organized by Google, in conjunction with the foundation=
for the Promotion of Software Products, (F.P.S.) held on May 1st 2016 here=
in London UK.Google earns its profit mainly from advertising using their v=
ery own Google search engine, Gmail , Yahoo,Hotmail ,All E-mail service Goo=
gle Maps, Google Apps, Orkut social networking and You Tube video sharing, =
which are all offered to the public for free.
=

We wish to congratulate you once again, for being among the Twelve (12) se=
lected winners in the ongoing E-mail Electronic Online Sweepstakes. Hence w=
e do believe with your prize, you will continue to be active in your patron=
age to Google and its Products. A Bank Draft of 950,000.00 GBP {Nine Hundr=
ed and Fifty Thousand Great British Pounds} will be issued in your name by =
our Foreign Payment Bureau and also a certificate of prize claim will be se=
nt alongside your Bank Draft.
=

You are advised to contact our Foreign Payment Bureau with the following d=
etails below for the Processing of your Claims:
=

FOREIGN PAYMENT RELEASE FORM.
=

(1)Your Contact Address:
(2)Your Contact Telephone/Mobile Number:
(3)Your Nationality/Country:
(4)Your Full Names:
(5)Occupation:
(6)Age/Gender:
(7)Marital Status:
(8)Private Email Address:
(9)Ever Won An Online Lottery?
(10)How Do You Feel As A Winner?
=

=

=

=

Mode of Price Remittance.
=

(1) Bank To Bank Wire Transfer.
=

(2) Courier Delivery Of your Certified Winning Cheque in your Name and oth=
er Winning Documents safely to you.
=

=2026=2026=2026=2026=2026=2026=2026=2026=2026=2026=2026=2026=2026=2026=
=2026=2026=2026=2026=2026=2026=2026=2026=2026=2026=2026=2026=2026=2026=2026=
=2026=2026=2026=2026=2026=2026=2026=2026
=

Contact our Foreign Payment Bureau officer below: Brian Hookson
Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer with the E-mail accounts=
as follows:
Email:goolgleverifydept@163.com
=

=

=

=

=2026=2026=2026=2026=2026=2026=2026=2026=2026=2026=2026=2026=2026=2026=
=2026=2026=2026=2026=2026=2026=2026=2026=2026=2026=2026=2026=2026=2026=2026=
=2026=2026=2026=2026=2026=2026=2026=2026
NOTE!!! For security reasons, you are advised to keep your winning informa=
tion confidential till your claims are processed and your money remitted to=
you. This is part of our precautionary measure to avoid double claiming an=
d unwarranted abuse of this program by some unscrupulous elements. Please b=
e WARNED!!!!
Congratulations from the Staffs & Members of Google Board Commission.
=

Andrew Arulanandam,
Chairman of the Board and Managing Director,
Google United Kingdom.
=A92016 Google Corporation.
=20

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam