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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
• "Is that email a scam?" - Check it online here!
  
• Frequently asked Questions (419 FAQ)
• Phone numbers used by 419 scammers
  (+225 +229 +234 +27 +31 +32 +34 +44 other)
• Company names mentioned in 419 spam:
  1 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
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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.

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:

• An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
• 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!
• 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.
  • +447045771479 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
• This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
  • edclaimsofficebox@googlemail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "Yahoo! Mail" <webmailinfo@jguihhh.com>
Date: Thu, 1 May 2008 16:18:40 +0100
Subject: Yahoo! Mail Congratulates You


Yahoo! Mail gives members random cash prizes. Today, your account is randomly selected as the one of 5 top winners accounts who will get cash prizes from us.We are happy to inform you that you have won a prize money of (Five Hundred Thousand Great Britian Pounds Sterling for the month of May, 2008 in the Yahoo Mail! promotion which is organized by yahoo.com every month.

This Lottery was promoted and sponsored by a conglomorate of some multinational companies as part of their social responsibility to the citizens in the commmunities where they have operational base. Further more your details(e-mail address) falls within our British representative office in United Kingdom , as indicated in your play coupon and your prize of =3F500,000 will be released to you from this regional branch office in UK.

We hope with part of your prize, you will participate in our end of year high stakes for US$1.3 Billion international draw.

HOW TO CLAIM YOUR PRIZE

These are your identification numbers:
Batch number.......................Lwh 09445
Lotto number........................Lwh09446
Winning number...................Lwh09447

To begin your claims, kindly contact our claims agent at this email address:
edclaimsofficebox@googlemail.com
His name is Mr. Edgar Walters
George Bala(Secretary)
+447045771479

You are required to forward him the following details:
1.FULL NAME
2.COUNTRY OF ORIGIN
3.PRESENT ADDRESS
4.SEX
5.DATE OF BIRTH
6.AGE
7.OCCUPATION
8.TELEPHONE NUMBER
9.FAX NUMBER(IF ANY)
10.MARITAL STATUS
11.WINNING NUMBER,BATCH NUMBER AND LOTTO NUMBER.
12 THE MONTH YOUWON

As soon as you contact him, he will advise you on what to do in order to get your prize money.

Congratulations once more!!

Yours Sincerely,

Dr. Lance Hoppes
PROMO CO-ORDINATOR.

Yahoo! Lottery is a free service that does not require you to register or be a Yahoo! registered user before winning.

Note: Do not reply this mail: Contact your claims agent for processing of payment as indicated in your winning notification. Thank You

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam