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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:
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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:
  • "cheque " (Beware of any scheme that involves cashing checks or money orders and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere - you'll be liable for the entire amount if the checks or money orders turn out to be fake, even after you have received and forwarded cash)
• 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.
  • infocenter@cooperation.net

Fraud email example:

From: "FREE LOTTERY PROMOTION INTERNATIONAL" <mrsvictoriajohnson2005@msn.com>
Reply-To: mrsvictoriajohnson@jmail.co.za
Date: Mon, 10 Oct 2005 13:43:42 +0000
Subject: NOTIFICATION..........CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

FREE LOTTERY PROMOTION INTERNATIONAL
PROMOTIONS/PRIZE AWARD DEPT
9 Chaucer House
Churchill gardens
London, SW1V 3DW
United Kingdom.

RE: WINNING NOTIFICATION..........CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

This is to inform you of the release of the E-MAIL LOTTERY BALLOT
INTERNATIONAL/ WORLD GAMING BOARD held on the 4th may, 2005.

Due to the mix up of numbers,the results were released on the 7th of
October , 2005. Your e-mail address attached to ticket number: 4156189324
under agent ID: 110 which subsequently won you the lottery in the 3rd
category.
You have therefore been approved for a lump sum payout of 1,000,000.00GBP
(Great Britain Pounds) in cheque drawn in your favour as beneficiary and
covered with HIGH INSURANCE POLICY.

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 claiming and
unwarranted abuse of this program by some participants.All participants were
selected through a computer ballot system drawn from only Microsoft users
from over 20,000.00 companies and 3,000,000 individual email addresses and
names from all over the world.

To begin your lottery claim, please contact our agent below that have been
appointed for the processing of your claim with the email address below:

CONTACT NAME: John Gerrard
CITY/ COUNTRY: London, United Kingdom.
TELE:0044-7031846696
EMAIL: infocenter@cooperation.net

Note that all winning must be claimed not later than 10days of receiving
this notification. 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 WINNING NUMBER and AGENT UMBER
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 promotional program.

Note: Anybody under the age of 18 is automatically disqualified.

Yours faithfully,
Mrs Victoria Johnson
===============================================================================================
Any breach of confidentiality on the part of the winners will result to
disqualification.
This E-mail message (including attachments, if any) is intended for the use
of the individual or ntity to which it is addressed and may contain
Information that is privileged, proprietary, onfidential and exempted from
disclosure.If you are not the intended recipient, you are notified that any
dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly
prohibited.
===============================================================================================

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam