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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:
  • "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.
  • +447040106561 (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.
  • kaithenshaw@telkom.net

Fraud email example:

From: "El GORDO LOTTERY" <el_gordo@luxatrel.net>
Date: Wed, 12 Oct 2005 12:35:23 +0000
Subject: Winning Notification - Contact Your Claims Agent

C\ Don Jaime I nº11 2º 
50.003 Zaragoza 
España 

 

Ref: EAASL/941OYI/02/SHYN
Batch: 12/25/0034

Dear Lucky Winner,

RE: BONUS LOTTERY PROMOTION PRIZE AWARDS WINNING NOTIFICATION

We are pleased to inform you of the result of the just concluded annual final draws of EL GORDO DE LA PRIMITIVA HIGH-STAKE INTERNATIONAL LOTTERY PROGRAM.

The online Cyber Lotto Email draws was conducted by a random selection of email addresses from an exclusive list of 500,000 E-mail addresses of individuals and corporate bodies picked by an advanced automated random computer search from the internet. However, no tickets were sold but all email addresses were assigned to different ticket numbers for representation and privacy.

After this automated computer ballot, your e-mail address emerged as one of twelve winners in the first category with the following data

Ref Number: EAASL/941OYI/02/SHYN
Batch Number: 12/25/0034
Ticket Number: 025-11464992-750

You as well as the other winners are therefore to receive a cash prize of USD$1,000,000 (ONE MILLION DOLLARS) each from the total payout.

Your prize award has been insured with your e-mail address and will be transferred to you upon meeting the requirements, statutory obligations, verifications, validations and satisfactory report.

To begin the claims processing of your prize winnings you are advised to contact our licensed and accredited claims agent/security company for first category winners with the information below:

Mrs. Kate Henshaw,
Foreign Services Manager, Payment and Release Order Dept.
ATLANTICO GROUPO SEGUIDAD S.A.
Phone: +44 704 010 6561
Fax:   +44 709 284 0122
Email: kaithenshaw@telkom.net

NOTE: All winnings must be claimed within 20 days from today. After this date all unclaimed funds would be included in the next stake. Remember to quote your reference information in all correspondence with your claims agent.

You are to keep all lotto information away from the general public especially your reference and ticket numbers. (This is important as a case of double claims will not be entertained).

Members of the affiliate agencies are automatically not allowed to participate in this program.

Thank you and congratulations!!!

Yours faithfully,
Smith Carpenter.
Games/Lottery Coordinator.

--

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam