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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.

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Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

• The following fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
  • "lottery winners international e-mail programs"
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "claim agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "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 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.
  • santaluciamail20@netscape.net
  • santaapproval@netscape.net

Fraud email example:

From: EURO MILLIONS LOTTERY INTERNATIONAL 2005 <euromillionserv@netscape.net>
Date: Tue, 04 Oct 2005 15:31:02 +0200
Subject: CONGRATULATION!!! YOU HAVE WON


EURO MILLIONS LOTTERY INTERNATIONAL.
FROM: INTERNATIONAL PROMOTION/PRIZE AWARD DEPT.
REFERENCE: 67/80/IPD
BATCH: EGGS-541-623-782:

RE:WINNING NOTIFICATION / FINAL NOTICE
Sir/Madam,
We are pleased to inform you of the result of the Euro millions Lottery Winners International E-mail programs held on the 27TH Of September 2005. Your E-mail address attached to ticket number 653-908-321-675 with serial main number 345-790-241-671 drew lucky star numbers 34-32-90-43-32 which consequently won in the 2nd category, you have therefore been
approved for a lump sum pay out of 1.000.000.00 Euro.(One Million Euro)
CONGRATULATIONS!!!
Due to mix up of some numbers and names, we ask that you keep your winning information confidential until your claims has 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. All participants were selected through a computer ballot system drawn
from over 100,000 company and 50,000,000 individual email addresses and
names from all over the world.This lottery was promoted and sponsored by Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft, the world's largest software company in order to enhance and
promote the use of Internet Explorer Users and microsoft-wares around the
globe.
This promotional program takes place once in three year,we hope with part of your winning you will take part in our end of year 50 million Euro International lottery.To file in and collect your claims for this prize winnings Award,
Please contact the underlisted claim agent as soon as possible for the immediate release of your winning
DR, TOM BLATT,
CLAIMS AGENT,SANTA LUCIA SECURITY COMPANY ESPANA.
Email: santaluciamail20@netscape.net OR santaapproval@netscape.net
Remember, all winning must be claimed not later than two weeks,After this date all unclaimed funds will be included in the next stake.
Please note in order to avoid unnecessary delays and complications please remember to quote your reference number and batch numbers in all correspondence.
Furthermore, should there be any change of address do inform our agent as soon as possible.
Congratulations once more from our members of staff and thank you for being part of our romotional program.
Sincerely yours,
MRS,COMFORT JOSE
Lottery Coordinator.
N.B:
1.All claims are nullified after 14 working days from today.
2.Your Ref/batch number must be in all your mails with the claims
officer.
3.Do inform the claims officer of any change of names or addresses.
4.All winners under the age of 18 are automatically dis-qualified.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam