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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:

Fraud email example:

From: "ANCHOR SECURITY COMPANY" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <ukag@anchorsecurities.biz>
Date: Fri, 13 Dec 2013 19:39:28 +0100
Subject: RE: FINAL AWARD NOTIFICATION OF CLAIM

ANCHOR SECURITY COMPANY.
32 London Bridge Street, London SE1 9SY
London, United Kingdom
TEL: +44-207-570-0342
Date: 13/12/2013
 
REFERENCE NO: DM-C9003-XCX
 
RE: FINAL AWARD NOTIFICATION OF CLAIM
 
Dear Beneficiary,
 
My name is PETER ADDISON the prize director representing the  Anchor Security Company Claims Department. Further to our letter dated April 22nd 2013 in which you were informed of your selection as the prize winner of our quarterly Two Million Dollars (US$ 2,000,000.00) award, we are yet to receive any response from you. Every year we enter 50,000 names from different sweepstakes and lottery databases worldwide, and our network server indicates that you were selected as a prize winner on April 19th 2013 and you still have not claimed your winnings for the sum of Two Million Dollars (US$ 2,000,000.00) Now we are required to notify you that if we do not hear from you within 3weeks from the date of this letter, your file will be closed and you will no longer be able to claim your winnings. Usually when a winner does not claim their money, there should be a note stating why before we can legally close their file.
 
To elaborate further, this draw was held in London, where our head office is located.  Your lucky numbers 5-10-15-24-31-45 won in the 2nd category.  You have therefore been approved for a lump sum pay out of Two Million Dollars (US$ 2,000,000.00) at no extra cost. This is a free claim for beneficiaries from our member countries.
 
Now, we would like to explain to you the Federal and International regulations governing the personal collections of cash prizes.
Prize winnings are released to you as soon as your Clearance Fee is paid. That will be the day that your cheque will be released from our remittance office. Your clearance fee is a calculated amount based on the size of your winning as required by Federal and International regulations.  Note that once your clearance fee is paid, you will receive your winnings in the form of a certified cheque or if you request, by Bank transfer directly into your bank account or any account nominated by you.
 
For security purpose and clarity, we strongly advise that you keep your winning information confidential until your claims have been fully processed and your money remitted to you. This is part of our security protocol to avoid double claims and unwarranted abuse of this program by some nominees. So once again, Congratulations to you!  For more information please contact our main processing office in London, UK. Phone:  +44-207-570-0342 and email: ukag@anchorsecurities.biz
 
Sincerely Yours,
 
Mr. PETER ADDISON
(ANCHOR SECURITY COMPANY)
--- TO FILE IN YOUR CLAIM, FILL BELOW
YOUR FULL NAME:
SEX:M/F
AGE:
OCCUPATION:
MARITAL STATUS:
PHONE NUMBER:
EMAIL ADDRESS:
MAILING ADDRESS:
 

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