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:
- "western union" (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. )
- "mtcn" (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. )
- ",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)
- "dear beneficiary," (this SPAM email was probably sent to thousands of people)
- "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!
Western Union money transfer is completely untraceable and therefore is *not* safe to use with anyone you do not know personally. It is the preferred method of online criminals to collect money from their victims.
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.
- +447035981666 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: Mark Anderson <microsft001@w.cn>
Date: Tue, 5 Oct 2010 08:57:33 +0000
Subject: =?windows-1256?Q?PAYMENT_IN?= =?windows-1256?Q?STRUCTION_?=
=?windows-1256?Q?FOR_DHL_DE?= =?windows-1256?Q?LIVERY=FE?=

Dear Winner,
We received your email telling us you will send a cetified cheque for the charges for the delivery of your parcel through DHL courier services. We would like to inform you that we do not accept cheque. The only form of payment we accept is through western union transfer. The information on how you are to send the charges through western union has been sent to you in our previous mail.
Get back to us as soon as possible with payment slip in the format we provided in our previous mail.
We await your email.
Regards,
Mark Anderson.

Date: Mon, 4 Oct 2010 20:41:13 +0000
From: x
To: x
Subject: Re: PAYMENT INSTRUCTION FOR DHL DELIVERYþ

I will express mail a check right away

----- Original Message -----
From: Mark Anderson <x>
To: john d x <x>
Sent: Mon, 04 Oct 2010 07:32:12 -0000 (UTC)
Subject: PAYMENT INSTRUCTION FOR DHL DELIVERYþ

DHL (2 DAYS DELIVERY)

Mailing: ----------- $50.00
Insurance: ---------- $160.00
Handling charges: --- $43.00
Vat: ---------------- $30.00
TOTAL: -------------- $283.00 USD

Thanks for your correspondence. You have chosen the DHL delivery of $283.00 USD It will take 2 Day (24 Hours) to have your parcel delivered to you by the DHL. To proceed with the payment modalities, you are to make the payment via Western Union Money Transfer, being the fastest and safest available means of payment. The payment should be forwarded to me, so that i can have it sent to the DHL office closer to us to immediately proceed with the delivery of your prize. Please find below the details required to send money via Western Union Money Transfer .

Name: Smith Allen
Address: 83, West End Oxford Street. London. United Kingdom
Amount: $283.00 USD.
Text Question:Colour
Answer:Black

When you have made the payment, you are to send us the details on the Western Union Transfer receipt in the manner below:

Senders Name:
MTCN (10 Digit Number):
Amount sent:
Text Question:Colour
Answer:Black

I look forward to receiving a confirmation of your payment, to enable deliver your parcel to you at within the shortest possible time.

Regards,
.Mark Anderson

This e-mail and any files transmitted with it are confidential and may be legally privileged and are solely for the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this e-mail in error please delete this message and any attachment files, All business is transacted under our Standard Trading Terms and Conditions a copy of which is available upon request . E .& .O. E . All liability for viruses is excluded to the fullest extent permitted by law

Date: Sun, 3 Oct 2010 11:55:16 +0000
From: x
To: x
Subject: Re: INDICATE CHOICE OF DELIVERY

DHL

----- Original Message -----
From: Mark Anderson <x>
To: john d x <x>
Sent: Sun, 03 Oct 2010 10:06:58 -0000 (UTC)
Subject: INDICATE CHOICE OF DELIVERY

MICROSOFT CORPORATION
83 WEST END OXFORD STREET,LONDON
UNITED KINGDOM
Tell: +44 703 598 1666

Dear Beneficiary,

Congratulations once again on behalf of the microsoft-corporation. We do believe that your cash prize of #1,625,000.00GBP .( One Million Six Hundred and Twenty Five Thousand Great British Pounds ) will be put into good use for community, educational and business development. On Behalf of the Screening Committee of microsoft-corporation, we wish to formally announce to you that you have successfully passed the Email Screening and Verification Matching Test conducted for the five (5) online winners in your Category.
Fill your choice of delivery in the space provided below so we can send you futher instructions on how to make the delivery payment to any of the courier company you choose:

YOUR NAME

DELIVERY OPTION

TEL/MOBILE

DELIVERY ADDRESS

These documents have been securely sealed and packed for security reasons which makes it impossible for anyone to view it until its been delivered to you. Please select from the delivery options below, For safe delivery of your winning Cheque and other winning documents:

DHL (2 DAYS DELIVERY)

Mailing: ----------- $50.00
Insurance: ---------- $160.00
Handling charges: --- $43.00
Vat: ---------------- $30.00
TOTAL: -------------- $283.00 USD

FEDEX (3 DAYS DELIVERY)

Mailing: ------------ $70.00
Insurance: --------- $110.00
Handling charges: --- $40.00
Vat: ---------------- $40.00
TOTAL: -------------- $260.00 USD

UPS (7 DAYS DELIVERY)

Mailing: ------------ $39.00
Insurance: ---------- $137.00
handling charges: --- $37.00
Vat: ---------------- $30.00
TOTAL: -------------- $253.00 USD

Send your response to indicate your option for delivery you have chosen from the above, within the next 48hrs, because you only have 7 days to claim this cheque and after this period, your cash prize will be deemed to have been forfeited by you and will be used in the drawings of the next edition of the lottery.

IMPORTANT NOTICE ON HOW THE SELECTION WAS CONDUCTED
The online draws was conducted by a random selection of email addresses from an exclusive list of 2,900,031 E-mail addresses of individuals and corporate bodies picked by an advanced automated random computer search from the internet. However, no tickets were sold but all email addresses were assigned to different ticket numbers for representation and privacy.
The selection process was carried out through random selection in our computerized email selection machine (TOPAZ) from a database of over 25,000,000 email addresses drawn from all the continents of the world.
This Lottery is approved by the EuropeanPrize Consumer Award Promotion and also Licensed by the The International Association of Gaming Regulators (IAGR). This lottery is the 3rd of its kind and we intend to sensitize the public

Best Regards,
Mr Mark Anderson
Microsoft Award Processing Officer

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam