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:
- "with your full names" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "very confidential" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a 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!
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.
- +27820420911 (South Africa, prepaid mobile phone)
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.
- jameslikana@aol.com (AOL; can be used from anywhere worldwide)

Fraud email example:

From: "[You have Won 218,140.25]TP" <ceeteejnr@netscape.net>
Reply-To: <jameslikana@aol.com>
Date: Tue, 27 Jul 2010 01:58:40 +0200
Subject: =?utf-8?Q?Winner_of__=D0=88218=2C140.25_in_the__I?=
=?utf-8?Q?EBS_Draw_No.7=2C_Category_=E2=80=9CC=E2=80=9D._=5BAn?=
=?utf-8?Q?alizado_con_Sophos_Puremessage=5D?=

Congratulations Beneficiary,

This is to inform you that your Email Address which was entered into the Integrated Electronic Balloting Systems (IEBS) emerged a winner of Prize Money of Two Hundred and Eighteen Thousand,One Hundred and Forty Pounds and Twenty Five Cents Only (£218,140.25) in the Category B1 of this Months Draw of the Tourism Services Initiative (TSI) awareness promotion.

Participating Emails were chosen and entered into this Ballot from records of Active usage of the Internet and in order not to abuse the system; owners of the Email Addresses which were selected for the Draw were not informed.

This IEBS is in conjunction with Tudor Trust United Kingdom to promote Tourism activities in the Southern African Region.

The TSI collects all the email addresses of Individuals / Companies that are active online, among the millions that are users of the Internet, this Organization selects only Seven people every Year as our winners through Our Integrated Electronic Balloting System (IEBS) without the winner necessarily applying or entering for the Lottery Competition, this is to avoid abuse of the Balloting System..

We congratulate your Email Address being selected.

These are your IEBS numbers:

Batch number.....................RET 09102XN
Ref number.......................RET 35447XN
Winning number WIN...................RET 09788XN

These numbers fall within your Location file, you are requested to contact the Events Manager / Claims Department with your Full Names and Telephone Number immediately and kindly keep extremely very confidential until you have claimed your Prize Winnings.

The Name of the Claims Manager is Mr. James Likana and he will provide you with further details on how your funds would be remitted to you.

Please contact our payment office immediately with the information below.

Claims Manager: Mr. James Likana
24 Hour Enquiries: +27 82 042 0911
Email: jameslikana@aol.com

Once More, Congratulations on your Winning and please act with all urgency in this regards,

Yours truly,

Mrs. Elsie Barnard

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam