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:

The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- ",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)
- "my names are " (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
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 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.
- tonokiafiduciaryagent@gmail.com (Gmail/GoogleMail; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
- home work public fromjohn d. ferry%2c jr. tonokiafiduciaryagent@gmail.com datewed, sep 29, 2010 at 7:07 pm subjectre: you have won (Gmail; can be used from anywhere worldwide)

Fraud email example:

From: Nokia Claims International
<fiduciaryclaimsdepartmentunitedkingdom@live.co.uk>
Date: Wed, 29 Sep 2010 21:01:39 +0100
Subject: The Official Nokia Promotion Form--Kindly Fill Out John TheBox

Good to hear from you regarding the NOKIA EMAIL PROMO/GRANT DONATION. My names are Mr Theophilus Mcfaden. I am the Nokia Cash officer assigned to winners on the email sweepstake.

In line with the commemorating event marking our 142nd anniversary we rolled out over £16,000.000.00 for our 142nd Anniversary Draws. All participants were selected through a computer ballot system drawn form 25,000 company email addresses and 30,000,000 individual email addresses from the 45 countries in Australia, New Zealand, North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Africa as part of International Promotions Program, which is conducted annually in UK

This promo is approved by the British Gaming Board and also licensed by the International Association of Gaming Regulators (IAGR). This promo is the 1st of its kind and we intend to sensitize the public. To begin the verification process of your prize, you are required to fill and send the claims form below

Section A
**Personal

Prefix (Mr., Mrs., Ms., Dr., etc.):

First name:

Middle name:

Last name:

Date of birth (yyyy-mm-dd):

Gender:

Male Female

Occupation

Address:

City/State/Province:

Country:

Section B
**Winning Information

Winning mobile number

Network Name

Amount won (in figure)

£

Amount won (in words)

Section C
**Internet

Contact email address(s)

1.
2.

Internet connection

Home Work Public

fromJohn D. Ferry%2C Jr. <x>
tonokiafiduciaryagent@gmail.com
dateWed, Sep 29, 2010 at 7:07 PM
subjectRe: You Have Won !!! s
mailed-bycomcast.net
hide details 7:07 PM (1 hour ago)

Jack N. Thebox
5525 West Gray Street
Tampa, Florida 33609
(813) 253-1001

----- Original Message -----
From: Nokia Email Winnings Promotion <ranwan@pixius.net>
Sent: Wed, 29 Sep 2010 08:47:51 -0000 (UTC)
Subject: You Have Won !!! s
Congratulations!!!!
Your email address has won 250,000.00 British Pounds in this Year Nokia United Kingdom Mobile Promo.
To claim E-mail your Name, Telephone number and address to nokiafiduciaryagent@gmail.com
Best Regards
Theophilus Mc-Fadden
nokiafiduciaryagent@gmail.com

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Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam