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:
- "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
- ",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)
- "chriistopherwiilfreduk@englandmail.com" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- "chriistopherwiilfreduk@englandmail.com" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
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: "Mrs. Elizabeth Allen. (Secretary)"
<mrselizabethallenloto566@dekagb.com>
Reply-To: <mmr.wilfredcoordinatoruk@englandmail.com>
Date: Mon, 18 Jul 2016 03:28:49 +0000
Subject: UK LOTTERY PROGRAM

UK LOTTERY PROGRAM
DEAR SIR/MADAM,

We are pleased to inform you about the result of our Lottery DRAWS HELD on the 27/02/2016 and announced on 28/06/2016. Your e-mail address attached to ticket number 27522465896-532 with serial number 652-662 drew lucky numbers 7-14-18-23-31-45 which consequently won in the 1st category. You have
therefore been approved for a lump sum pay of GBP1.3Million note that. All participants in this lottery program have been selected randomly through a computer ballot system drawn from over 200,000 companies and 400,000,000 individual email addresses from all search engines and web sites.

This promotional program takes place every year, and is promoted and sponsored by eminent world personalities like the (SULTAN of Brunei, Bill Gates of Microsoft Inc and other corporate organizations). This is to encourage the use of the internet and computers worldwide. For security purpose and clarity, (we advise that you keep your winning Information confidential until your claims have been 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 participants. We look forward to your active participation in our next year USD500 million slot. You are requested to contact our LOTTERY COORDINATOR:

Mr. Christopher Wilfred
E-Mail: chriistopherwiilfreduk@englandmail.com

All winnings must be claimed not later than 25/7/2016. Please note, in order to avoid unnecessary delays and complications, remember to quote your WINNING NUMBERS, SERIAL numbers, and TICKET numbers in all correspondence. Furthermore, if should there be any change of address do inform our agent as soon as possible.

Congratulations once more and thank you for being part of our promotional program. You are required to reply to this email: chriistopherwiilfreduk@englandmail.com for further details.

NOTE: YOU ARE AUTOMATICALLY DISQUALIFIED IF YOU ARE BELOW 18 YEARS OF AGE.

Sincerely yours,

Mrs. Elizabeth Allen. (Secretary)

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam