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:
- "will come to you as a surprise" (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!

Fraud email example:

From: BBC ONE NATIONAL LOTTERY <bbcnl@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: bbconenl.claimsdept@yahoo.com
Date: Thu, 12 Jul 2012 20:29:18 -0430
Subject: File For Validation Purpose =?iso-8859-1?b?KKMxLDI2Myw1ODQuMDA=?=
GBP).

BBC ONE NATIONAL LOTTERY
Wood Lane, London W12 7RJ,
United Kingdom.
Confirm Winning: http://www.bbc.co.uk/lottery/

Dear Lucky Winner,

It is apparent that this notification will come to you as a surprise
but please
find time to read it carefully as we congratulate you over your
success in the
just concluded and official publication of results of the e- mail electronic
online Sweepstakes organized by The BBC One National Lottery in conjunction
with the British Government and the London 2012 Olympic Committee held on
Wednesday July 11th 2012 here in London.

A Draft of £1,263,584.00 GBP (One Million Two Hundred and Sixty Three
Thousand,
Five Hundred and Eighty Four Pounds Sterling) will be issued in your name as
one of the lucky winners.

It is important to note that your award was confirmed and released with the
following Winning particulars attached to it.
(1) Winning No: 12 19 28 29 38 49
(2) Bonus No: 30
(3) Draw No: 1727

For Validation Purpose, Forward The Following Information as Listed Below and
Send to this
Office through (Mrs. Lindsey Watson):
.Residential address:
.Tel(Mobile):
.Nationality/Country:
.Full Names:
.Age/Sex:
.Occupation/Position:

CLICK REPLY AND SEND DETAILS FOR VALIDATION TO (Mrs. Lindsey Watson).
Sincerely,
Mr. John Partridge.
Lottery Presenter General,
BBC One National Lotto.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam