419 scam: "Brown Brian Patrick"<postmaster@lottery.com> Unclaimed Draws

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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 fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
- "uk national lottery" (can only win this lottery if you bought a ticket)
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.
- +447031958573 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: "Brown Brian Patrick" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <claimsoffice2009@avasmail.com.mv>
Date: Sat, 19 Dec 2009 16:41:38 +0100
Subject: Unclaimed Draws

The National Lottery
23 Cambridge street,
Buckinghamshire,
United Kingdom.
Customer Service/Claims Department
PHONE: 44 703 195 8573 (24 HOURS)
FAX: 44 700 597 6831

The National Lottery congratulates you as one of our Ten (10) Star Prize
Winner in our 2009 International "Unclaimed Draws Promotion" (IUDP) held
in London. And you have emerged a winner of £1,792,430 (One Million, seven
hundred and ninety two thousand, four hundred and thirty pounds sterling).
1 Branded Dell Inspirion 6400 Laptop
1 Branded T-Shirt
1 Branded Base Ball Cap
Winning Certificate from UK National Lottery.
To begin processing of your prize contact:

Please kindly reconfirm the details listed below for immediate Payment and
On-ward Delivery of your Winnings:

CLAIMS RELEASE/ VERIFICATION FORM
1.Full Name:
2.Full Address:
3.Marital Status:
4.Occupation:
5.Age:
6.Sex:
7.Nationality:
8.Country Of Residence:
9.Telephone Number:
10.Email:

Yours Truly,
Sir. Brown Brian Patrick
Co-ordinator

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam