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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
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• 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:
  • "from the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
• 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.
  • atlanticagencia@netscape.net

Fraud email example:

From: "Bono Lottery International" <bonolotteryinternational03@msn.com>
Date: Fri, 14 Oct 2005 12:33:22 +0000
Subject: winning notification

FROM THE DESK OF THE PROMOTIONS MANAGER,
INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS AWARD DEPARTMENT

Ref: FER/6598/5487/26
Batch:387-768-857
Winning No:963/WDE/125

Attn: We happily announce to you the draw of the Bono Lottery International
Program held on the 28th of SEPTEMBER, 2005. Your name "email address" was
attached to ticket number; 12324277 serial number 6663817262 This batch
draws the lucky numbers as follows 2-9-22-23-24-30 bonus number 5, which
consequently won the lottery in the second category.

You hereby have been approved lump sum pay of $500,000.00 (FIVE HUNDRED
THOUSAND DOLLARS)file Ref: FER/8309/1209/26 from the total cash prize of
$5,000,000.00 shared amongst ten lucky winners,based on their category.

All participants "email address" were selected through a computer balloting
system drawn form Nine hundred thousand names from Canada,Australia,United
States,Asia, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Oceanic as part of our
internationalpromotions program which is conducted annually.

This Lottery was promoted and sponsored by some multinational companies as
part of their social responsibility to the citizens in the communities where
they have operational base.

To process your claims you are hereby advice to contact the apponted agent
below with your Full Name, Contact Home and Office Address Tel & Fax Number
for easy communication.

MR.JACK WILLIAMS
ATLANTIC AGENCIA SPAIN
Email:atlanticagencia@netscape.net
Please quote your reference, batch and winning number which can be found on
the top left corner of this notification as well as your full names and
address to help locate your file easily.

For security reasons, we advice all winners to keep this information
confidential from the public until your claim is processed and your prize
released to you. This is part of our security protocol to avoid dual
claiming and unwarranted taking advantage of this program by non-participant
or unofficial personnel.

Note, all winnings must be claimed before 29th of OCTOBER 2005 otherwise
your prize will be returned as Unclaimed and eventually donated to charity.

Congratulations once again on your winnings!!!

Best Regards Susan Zeaman
Co-ordinator
BONO LOTTERY INTERNATIONAL SPAIN.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam