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:
- "fiduciary agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "million pounds" (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)
- "claims.dept.director@live.co.uk" (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: "=?utf-8?Q?MICROSOFT=C2=AE?= EMAIL LOTTERY
INTERNATIONAL" <info@winners.co.uk>
Reply-To: claims.dept.director@live.co.uk
Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2010 20:37:42 +0100
Subject: =?utf-8?Q?MICROSOFT=C2=AE?= EMAIL LOTTERY
INTERNATIONAL

--

MICROSOFT® EMAIL LOTTERY INTERNATIONAL.
HOOFGHESS 103 KL1102 GH,
UNITED KINGDOM.

WINNING NOTIFICATION,

Dear: e-Mail Winner,

The WINDOWS LIVE & MICROSOFT WINDOWS has set out and successfully
organized a Sweepstakes marking the beginning of year anniversary. We
rolled out over 10,000.000.00 (10 million e-mails) to mark the 2010
Anniversary Draws.Participants for the draws were randomly selected and
drawn from a wide range of web hosts which we enjoy their BETA patronage
attaching personalized email addresses to ticket numbers.

Your email address as indicated was drawn and attached to
TICKET No:(20511465463-7644) with SERIAL No:(S/N-00168) and drew the LUCKY No:
887-13-865-37-10-83(20) which subsequently won you (One Million Pounds
Sterling)(£1,000 000) as one of the 10 jackpot winners in this draw.

Please contact our fiduciary agent for claims with the contact below
Agent.

Mr.Robert Goldsmith.
Email:claims.dept.director@live.co.uk

1.Full Name:
2.Full Address:
3.Status:
4.Sex:
5.Occupation:
5.Age
7.Phone Number:
8.Country:

MICROSOFT® EMAIL LOTTERY INTER.

processing and remittance of your winning prize money to a destination of
your choice.Any claim not made before 30th March 2010 this day will be
returned to the MINISTERIAL VAN DE ECONOMIC United Kingdom. Note that all
unclaimed funds will be included in the next stake.

Also in order to avoid unnecessary delays and complications, remember to
quote your reference number and ticket numbers in all your correspondence
with Dr Martha Pardey.

Please follow all his instructions.Furthermore, should there be any change
of address do inform us as quickly as possible.

Congratulations once more from our members of staff and thank you for
being part of our promotional program.

Note: Anybody under the age of 18 is automatically disqualified.

Yours Sincerely,
Martha Pardey
Vice President,
MICROSOFT® EMAIL LOTTERY INTER.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam