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 fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
- " lotto international " (no such lottery exists)
The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "from: the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "claim agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "million us dollars" (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)
- "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)
- "deadline" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- "barrister" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
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.
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.
- timothyconsultant1@mail2world.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: FREE LOTTO INTERNATIONAL <info@freelotto.com>
Reply-To: timothyconsultant1@mail2world.com
Date: Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:44:53 -0500
Subject: How to claim your ONE MILLION UNITED STATES DOLLARS from the Free
Lotto International.

FROM: THE DESK OF THE MANAGING DIRECTOR
INTERNATIONAL/PRIZE AWARD DEPT
FREE LOTTO INTERNATIONAL
Headquarters:
Customer Service
28 TANFIELD ROAD,
CROYDON.LONDON
REF NO: LT/7914290166/CTV
BATCH: LM/51390-0/WGP.

WINNING NOTIFICATION.

We are pleased to inform you of the announcement today, winners of the
FREE LOTTO INTERNATIONAL ONLINE PROMOTION held on the 2nd of November
2009.

Your email was attached to ticket number 525-6746-1902-440; with serial
number 8926-45 drew the lucky numbers 13-15-22-37-39-43, and consequently
won the lottery in the 1st category. You have therefore been approved for
pay out of US$1,000,000.00 [One Million US dollars] credited to file
NO.:NM/BC 921245/KY13.Your fund would be released to you conveniently by
our pay out bank where you will be adequately paid be by draft/cheque
after proper identification and sign your final fund release order.

All participants were selected randomly from World Wide Website through
their email addresses with a computer drawn system which their email was
extracted from over 100,000 companies? website in the world. All
participants were selected through their email addresses and a computer
ballot system was drawn from 15 million email addresses from Australia,
New Zealand, America, Europe, North America, Africa and Asia as part of
their International Promotions Program.

CONGRATULATIONS!
Your fund is now deposited with your ticket number and serial number.
Please be informed that your above winning prize fund has been insured
under insurance fund policy which assured you that you will receive your
winning fund complete without any reduction from the fund for security
reasons.

YOU MUST CLAIM YOUR FUND IMMEDIATELY TO AVOID CHARGES, as this is part of
our security measure to avoid double claiming or unwarranted taking
advantage of the situation by other participants or impersonators. The
deadline date of this notice is two weeks after the date of notification
by which lottery winning prize will be marked unclaimed and remitted back
to the account of ?FREE LOTTO INTERNATIONAL" as unclaimed.

To begin your claim, please contact your claim agent

Name: Barrister Timothy Wales (FOREIGN SERVICE AGENCY/CONSULTANT).

E-mail: timothyconsultant1@mail2world.com

Please remember to quote your reference and batch numbers in every one of
your correspondences with your agent.

To begin with the processing of your Award prize you are provided the
under listed.

Reference number:.................................
Batch number:....................................
Amount Won: .......................................
Full name:.......................................
Age:.......................................
Sex:........................................
Residential address:...............................
Nationality:...............................
Occupation:................................
Post held:.......................................
Tel(s):....................................
Fax:........................................
Income: ..............................
Send the above data which is required to your claim agent as soon as you
receive this email to commence with the processing of your prize
immediately.

Sincerely,
Mrs. Regina Watson.
THE PROMOTIONS MANAGER,
FREE LOTTO INTERNATIONAL.

N.B. Anybody under the age of 18 is automatically disqualified.

WWW.FREELOTTO.COM
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FREE LOTTO INTERNATIONAL IS REGISTERED UNDER THE DATA PROTECTION ACT OF;
(Registration Z720633X).
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Copyright © 1804-2009 The Free Lotto International. All rights reserved.
Terms of Service - Guidelines.
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Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam