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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:

• 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.
  • +447031907554 (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.
  • @mail.com

Fraud email example:

From: "lotto info" <info@manegementnotification.com>
Reply-To: larry_hoob@mail.com
Date: Wed, 05 Oct 2005 10:45:25 +0000
Subject: WINNING NOTIFICATION!!!!!

GOVERNMENT ACCREDITED LICENSED!! BRITISH WEB LOTTERY IS REGISTERED UNDER THE DATA PROTECTION ACT OF; (Registration Z720633X). Dear,                                                                    BRITISH WEB LOTTERY P.O.Box 1010 Liver pool, L701NL, United Kingdom. Ref: BWLW/67451/01 Batch: 01/14/31711-3 FROM: Solomon Cisse, CONTROLLER                    SUBJECT: WINNING NOTIFICATION!!!!!:    We happily announce to you the draw (#994) of the BRITISH WEB LOTTERY,online sweepstakes international program held on  Sat 22, sept 05, Your e-mail address attached  to ticket number:56475600545 188 with Serial number 5368/02 drew the lucky numbers:         , , , , , , and bonus to check  your results online click on this link http://www.national-lottery.co.uk/player/p/results/results.do participants were selected through a computer ballot system drawn from Microsoft users from company and individual email addresses users. Be advice to 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 claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program,For the release of your winning,kindly contact your claims agent in British Lottery Head Quarters Mr. Alan Cross on tel +447031907554, you are to quote your lucky number for confirmation on your winning. All winning must be claimed not later than 20th oct, 2005. After this date all unclaimed funds will be retured to European Union Treasury as unclaimed. Please note in order to avoid unnecessary delays and complications please remember to quote your reference number in all correspondence. You are therefore advised to give the following informations to your claim's agent via email which is larry_hoob@mail.com  to send your email 1. Full name and address 2. Country. 3. Tel and fax number. 4.Occupation.  5. Age Congratulations from the staff and thank you for being part of email account users program.                                 Yours Sincerely, Mrs. Julie Van Hans, Executive.(Euro Lottery Intern.) Dr. P. Swier, Mr. Gerald Goodman (Manager Foreign Operations), Mr. Franklyn Van Der Weijden (Manager Domestic Banking Operations), Dr. James Williams (Director International Credit Department), Mrs. Sandra Murphy (Executive), Mr. Michael Cole (Executive), Mr. Stephen Boer (Chairman). Copyright © 2005 British Lottery International MRS JULIE VAN HANS, VICE PRESIDENT

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam