419 Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam (2006-01)

joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet

Try our spam filter!
Free trial for 30 days

Home

About Us

Spam

419/Nigeria

Fraud

Contact

"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:
- "clearance certificate" (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. )
- "certificate 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. )
- "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. )
- "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. )
- "clearance certificate" (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. )
- "are expected to pay " (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. )
- "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 next of kin scam.
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.
- +447011150741 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: "Mrs. Matilda Victor" <test1@srdc.com.ph>
Reply-To: fastway-express@skymail.mn
Date: Wed, 29 Jun 2011 02:46:34 +0800
Subject: Contact Mr. Louise Henson at FastWay Courier For Your Cheque
Delivery.

My Dear,

I am sure this mail would reach you in good health and this will be
coming to you as a surprise since we have never met before and you
would also be asking why I have decided to choose you amongst the
numerous internet users in the world, precisely I cannot say why I
have chosen you but do not be worried for I come in peace and
something very positive is about to happen to your life right now and
to the lives of others through you if only you can carefully read and
digest the message below. The internet has made the world global
villages where you can reach anybody you have not met before. I saw
your profile on the Internet, which has made me accomplish my request.
May the almighty God bless and see you through with this mission.

Before I move further, permit me to give you a little of my biography,
I am Mother Mrs. Matilda Victor, 87 Years old woman and the wife of
Late Sir Ratnavale Victor who died in a Plane crash on Monday the 7th
of September 1998 GMT 14:22 UK while they were flying from New York to
Geneva. Please see site below for more information:
http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9809/swissair.victims.list/index.html

After the death of my husband I became the Head of his investment and
now that I am old and weak I have decided to spend the rest of my
life in my Ranch before i finally leave the world, but before the
death of my husband we had a plan to use the last days of our lives to
donate half of what we have worked for to the less privilege and
charity homes and the other half for ourselves, family members and
close friends, and it is so unfortunate that my husband is not alive
today to do this with me and I am very weak and old now, hence I have
decided to do this philanthropic work on behalf of my late husband.

Presently, I have willed out almost half of our assets to several
charity homes and to some of the less privilege in different
countries. Despite the agreement between my late husband and I to give
aid to the deprived, we also agreed to render support to an individual
we have not meet before in life due to the fact when we were still
young in life we receive an anonymous help from an individual we did
not know and which we have not being able to know till date, the
impact we got from such gesture made us to do same.

I am sorry to inform you that you will never have the chance to know
me because I have just concluded the assignment which my husband and I
have agreed upon before his sudden death and you happened to be the
beneficiary of our last WILL, hence I need you to do me a favor by
accepting our offer.

I deposited some fund in the sum of £250,000.00 GBP (Two Hundred and
Fifty Thousand Great British Pounds) with FASTWAY COURIER UK four
weeks ago to deliver to you, but i was very ill so i could not send
you an email until today. What you have to do now is to contact the
FASTWAY COURIER SERVICE UK as soon as possible to know when they will
deliver your
package to you.

For your information, I have paid for the delivering Charge, Insurance
Premium and Clearance Certificate Fee of the Cheque showing that it is
not a Drug Money or meant to sponsor Terrorist attack in your Country.

You have to contact the FASTWAY COURIER SERVICE UK now for the
delivery of your cheque with this information bellow:

Contact Person: Mr. Louise Henson (Dispatch Director)
Telephone: +447011150741
Contact E-mail: fastway-express@skymail.mn

Again, the only money you are expected to pay is 198 GBP (One Hundred
and Ninety Eight British Pounds) to FastWay Courier UK for the
security keeping of the cheque so far. You are not to pay for the
delivering Charge, the Insurance premium and the Clearance Certificate
Fee of the Cheque because I have already paid them. I would have paid
the security keeping fee but the FastWay Courier Company insisted that
I should not because they don't know when you will be contacting them
and to avoid demurrage or further cost.You are to reconfirm the below
information to them to avoid any mistake on the Delivery:

1. Your Complete contact address:
2. Your Full Names:
3. Direct telephone number:

Here is the security keeping code: (SCT/0433/F) of your cheque, you
are to also send it to FastWay Courier Company when contacting by
email for verification before delivery.

Please, try to contact them as soon as you receive this mail to avoid
any further delay.

Be also notified that I will no longer be reading my emails or surfing
the internet as I have retired completely from the outside world to my
ranch, at this moment I have nothing to do with cars, emails and other
luxuries, all further correspondence should be forwarded to the
courier company for the delivery of your cheque to you.

Yours Faithfully,
Mrs. Matilda Victor.

---------------------------------------------------------------
Saint Rafael Development Corporation
http://www.srdc.com.ph-

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam