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.
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:
"million united states dollars" (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)
",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)
"00,000.00" (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)
"u.k " (this email uses bad English)
This email message is a fake lottery scam. Consider the following facts about real lotteries:
They don't notify winners by email.
You can't win without first buying a lottery ticket.
They don't randomly select email addresses to award prizes to.
They don't use free email accounts (Yahoo, Hotmail, etc) to communicate with you.
They don't tell you to call a mobile phone number.
They don't tell you to keep your winnings secret.
They will never ask a winner to pay any fees to receive a prize!
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.
+447087691094 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
Fraud email example:
From: "FREE LOTTO INTERNATIONAL" (may be fake) Reply-To: <drew@ton.net.ru> Date: Sun, 11 Sep 2016 18:52:07 -0700 Subject: CONGRATULATIONS Your E-mail Account Was Shortlisted & Approved (Read Carefully)!!!
New Page 1
AFFILIATED OFFICE OF FREELOTTO U.K
28 Tansfield Road,
Croydon London Sw1 U.K
NOTIFICATION OF WINNING:
We are pleased to inform you of the release, of the recent results of the
FREELOTTO®
INTERNATIONAL PROMOTION PROGRAM held on September 8th, 2016. You were
entered as dependent clients with: Reference Serial Number:
F2-003-036
and Batch number
FR/45-300-16.
Your email address attached to the ticket number
52-34-17-20-25-45that drew the lucky winning number, which
consequently won the Daily Jackpot in the first category, in four parts. You
have been approved for a payment of $1,000,000.00 (One Million United States
Dollars) in cash credited to file reference number:TFR/9900034943/JPT.
Congratulations!!!
Daily Jackpot $1,000,000.00:
52-34-17-20-25-45
Super Bulk $10,000,000.00: 20-14-9-56-35-32-24
Please
contact the under listed claims release office for immediate pay out of your
winning fund:
Mr. Daniel Waltz
(FreeLotto®
Fiduciary Department)
82 Victoria Street Victoria London SW1 U.K
Tel:
+44 708 769 1094
Email: fl_danielwaltz03@outlook.com
He is
your agent, and he is responsible for the processing and transfer of your
winnings to you. After receiving your check from our office in U.K other
relevant documents you may need to claim your winning will be delivered to you
by our paying bank as soon as you validate your claims.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The
FreeLotto® Internet Drew is held every six months and is so organized to
encourage the use of the internet and computer worldwide. We are proud to say
that over 300 millions Euros are won annually in more than 118 countries
Worldwide.
