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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
• "Is that email a scam?" - Check it online here!
  
• Frequently asked Questions (419 FAQ)
• Phone numbers used by 419 scammers
  (+225 +229 +234 +27 +31 +32 +34 +44 other)
• Company names mentioned in 419 spam:
  1 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
• Support our efforts to stop scams!
  
• How to report 419 spam to us
• What can you do when you receive 419 spam
  
  
• Spam archive, Daily index
  

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.

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")
  • ",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)
  • "you are advice to " (this email uses bad English)
• 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.
  • +31649304315 (Netherlands, prepaid mobile phone)

Fraud email example:

From: "NikkiD11" <NikkiD11@student.fullerton.edu>
Date: Mon, 1 Sep 2008 18:53:45 -0700
Subject: YOU WON CALL TO CONFIRM

YOU WON CALL TO CONFIRM
ONLINE NOTIFICATION OF WINNING
The Netherlands National Lottery,

REF Number: ACCU/231/ILGI/0431/08
BATCH No: EAPA/15/096/TVS
TICKET No: 20511465463-7644
SERIAL No: 472-9768-208
LUCKY No: 16-18-29-33-37-42-35

RE: WINNING FINAL NOTIFICATION

Amount Won: 1,000,000.00 Euros

Dear Sir/Madam

The online cyber lotto draws was conducted from an exclusive list of 25,000,000 e-mail addresses of individual and corporate bodies picked by an advance dautomated random computer search from the internet. No tickets were sold.

To file in for the processing of your prize winnings, you are advised to contact our Certified and Accredited claims agent for category "A"winners with the information below:
***************************************
Name: Mr Peter Van Der
Tel: +31-649-304-315
Fax: +31 847 254 686
Email: nvlotto@yahoo.cn
***************************************
You are advice to provide him with the following information and a copy of your international passport or driver's license via email attachment or by fax for vetting process which is a standard practice just to ensure that we are dealing with the right individual.

1. FULL NAMES:
2. ADDRESS:
3. NATIONALITY:
4. TEL/FAX NUMBERS:
6. SEX:
7. AGE:
8. OCCUPATION:

Sincerely yours,
Mrs Susan Jones
Lottery Coordinator

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam