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:
- "demurrage " (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- "insurance fee " (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- "security keeping fee" (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- "claim agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "hundred thousand great british 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)
- "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)
- "courier service" (Courier companies mentioned in 419 scams are always fake. They will have you send money to them, but won't deliver anything. )
- "courier company" (Courier companies mentioned in 419 scams are always fake. They will have you send money to them, but won't deliver anything. )
- "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!

Fraud email example:

From: "Fedex Courier Service Delivery Team Departmnet"
<fedex.online.team.unit@w.cn>
Reply-To: fedex_express.delivery.services@w.cn
Date: Sun, 7 Mar 2010 06:21:52 -0500 (EST)
Subject: Attention.We Have Your Parcel In Our Office!!

Attention.

We have a Parcel containing an International Cashier Bank Draft/Cheque
worth the sum of Nine Hundred Thousand Great British Pounds(£900,000.00
GBP). with your name and email address tagged on it which will be delivered
to you the moment you provide all the requirement information to the FedEx
courier company before the parcel can be shipped to your own residential
address in your country. Further more, you might be asking yourself how
come this email, cheque or draft, Anyway, your cheque was brought to our
office by the Coca-Cola Bottling Company via a Lottery Fiduciary Claim
Agent, signifying that you are a rightful winner to their Lottery Award
Promo selected randomly. Your e-mail address was among the Ten lucky email
addresses which make your email address as one of the lucky email address
and they have decided to send it to you true Federal Express Delivery
Service. What you have to do now, is to contact our Delivery Department
for immediate dispatch to your residential address. For your information,
the Delivery fee and Security Keeping fee & Shipping charges as well as
the Vat fees have been paid by the Lottery Fiduciary Company.

You will have to pay a sum of £220.00 Pounds to the FedEx Delivery
Department being payment for the Insurance Fee of the FedEx Company.And
all you have to do now is to insured your winning parcel with the
Insurance Company which is registered with FedEx Accra Ghana. Also be
informed that the Lottery Fiduciary company has paid the Delivery Fee of
your winning & Security Keeping also Shipping charges as well as the Vat
fees for you ,but you have to pay for the Insurance Fee, The reason why
you are been ask to pay for the Insurance Fee is because of the fact that
all items & packages that is not Insured by the insurance company of Accra
Ghana are not allowed to be delivered to their delivery address. So you
are to pay the FedEx Courier Service the Insurance Fee to enable the
insurance company of Accra Ghana Insured your winning for delivery. As
soon as you have paid our delivery team will take your Insurance fee, they
will proceed to the insurance company of Accra Ghana to Insure your
winning funds,as soon as it is been Insured by the insurance company of
Accra Ghana they shall commence with your delivery without any delay and
also we shall provide you with the Insurance Certificate that was been
given to us by the insurance company of Accra Ghana as a proof that you
have Insured your winning which value the sum of Nine Hundred Thousand
Great British Pounds(£900,000.00 GBP)

You are been ask to Insured your Winning Funds is to certify that the Bank
Draft is not a Drug Affiliated Fund (DAF) neither is the funds to sponsor
Terrorism in your country this will help you to avoid grant funds
investigation research from the Monetary Authority in your country after
you have received your parcel. And also we can not take the risk to carry
out the delivery of your funds in case of any possible demurrage so you
have to contact our delivery team and ask them how you are going to make
the payment of the Insurance fee of your funds.We hope that you will
respond to us as soon as possible because if you fail to respond until the
expiry date of this package, we may refer the package to the Accra Ghana
Commission for Welfare Or better still to Coca-Cola Bottling Company as
the package do not have a return address. Kindly contact the delivery
department (FedEx Delivery Post) with the details given below:

FedEx Delivery Post Contact Person: Mr.Morris Benson, Tel: +233543733973,
Email: {fedex_express.delivery.services@w.cn}and call for comfirmation
immediately you receive this massage,Do provide us with this information,
and it's mandatory to reconfirm your Postal address and telephone numbers
to enable us commence with your delivery and mostly to enable us Insured
your Winning Funds.

=========================================
DO PROVIDE US WITH BELOW INFORMATION
=========================================

Age:

State:

Country:

Sex (M/F):

Full Names:

Nationality:

Occupation:

Next Of Kin:

Mobile Number:

Postal Address:

========================================

Kindly complete the above form and summit it to the delivery manager on:
(fedex_express.delivery.services@w.cn) As soon as your details are
received, our delivery team will give you the necessary payment procedure
so that you can effect the payment for the Insurance Fee. As soon as they
confirm your payment of £220.00 Pounds, they will not hesitate to work
straight to the insurance company and insure your winning for delivery. It
usually takes 24 hours being an over night delivery service to deliver
your winning funds to you after it has been Insured by the insurance
company. We were instructed to email you due to the high priority of your
package we had to inform you through the letter that was attach in your
package, We indeed personally sealed your Bank Draft we found your email
contact in the attached letter as the recipient of the fore most package.
Ensure to contact our delivery department with the email address given
above and ensure to fill the form as well to enable a successful
reconfirmation and a safe delivery of your winning.

Yours Faithfully,
Mrs. Linda Joy
FedEx Online Team Management

http://www.udo.edu.ve
Universidad de Oriente - Venezuela.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam