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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:
  • "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.
  • owensmith@zipmail.com.br
  • esmee_francelotto@zwallet.com

Fraud email example:

From: "ESMEE BRICE" <francelotto1@msn.com>
Date: Tue, 18 Oct 2005 02:49:52 +0000
Subject: 1st Price Winner

France-Lotto Lottery
Ref: FR/JKP/2005
Batch No.: 05/70
Winning No.: 15-33-40-41-43-47/23
Date: 31 Aug 2005

WINNING NOTICE

We happily announce to you the draws of the France-Lotto Lottery programs
held on the 31st of August 2005 here in France in which you and six (6)
other provisional winners were selected as winners under Batch No. 05/70 in
Category I. Your e-mail address attached to ticket number: 801135JKP drew
the lucky numbers: 15-33-40-41-43-47/23, which subsequently won you the 1st
price. See (http://www.thelotter.com/Results_.asp?Lottery=19) for further
clarifications. All participants were selected randomly through computer
ballot draw system and from 5,000 individuals. You have therefore been
granted provisional approval to claim a total sum of €1,084,049.00 Euros
(One Million, Eighty-four Thousand and Forty-nine Euros) as your winning
prize. This is from a total prize pool of 6,000,000 Euros. In line with
this, your €1,084,049.00 will be paid to you upon confirmation and
clarification by our claims agents in United Kingdom that you have been
assigned to for convenience and to forestall any language difficulty. The
agents will immediately commence the process to facilitate the release of
your winnings as soon as you contact them.

Do please quote your Batch, Reference and Winning numbers in any
correspondence with our designated agent. Please include your telephone
number(s) when contacting the agent.

Contact:
Mr. Owen Smith
Capital Credit & Trust Ltd
London, United Kingdom.
Tel: 44 703 193 0573; Fax: 44 870 139 8800

Emails:
paymentagent@moomia.com
owensmith2005@moomia.com
owensmith@zipmail.com.br

Congratulations once more from all members and staff of this program and
thank you for being part of our promotional lottery program.

Sincerely yours,

Esmee Brice (Ms.)
Results Coordinator.
Email: esmee_francelotto@zwallet.com
website: http://www.thelotter.com/Results_.asp?Lottery=19

N.B. Any breach of confidentiality on the part of the winners will result to
Disqualification. Please do not reply to this email rather contact your
claim agent. Note also that you are automatically disqualified if you are
below 18 years of age.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam