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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:

• 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!

Fraud email example:

From: "sandra williams" <sandrawilliams500@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: grantzebra@myway.com
Date: Tue, 25 Oct 2005 17:28:34 +0000
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS!!!

ZEBRA LOTTERY INTERNATIONAL
Orchard Place, Flint House road,
PE04 8JR, United Kingdom.
Ref. Number: 632/001/3001
Batch Number: 400001429-AK446


Sir/Madam,

We are pleased to inform you of the result of the Lottery Winners
International programs held on the 5th September, 2005.Your e-mail address
attached to ticket number 370982217413-7240 with serial number 4708-325 drew
lucky numbers 2-34-28-13-41 which consequently won inthe 7th category,you
have thereforebeen approved for a lump sum pay of USD$3,500,000.00(Three
million five hundred thousand United States Dollars).CONGRATULATIONS!!!

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
participantswere selected through a compute ballot system drawn from over
20,000 company and 30,000,000 individual email addresses and names from all
over the world. This promotional program takes place every three year.

This lottery was promoted and sponsored by Ted Turner,Jesse Jackson,Ken
Evoy,and Bill Gates, President of the World Largest software, we hope with
part of your winning you will take part in our nextyear USD50 million
international lottery.

To file for your claim, please contact our fiducial agent MR.Bill Grant, of
the Zebra Trust Agency immediately via this email address, i shall forward
your mail to him for necessary action. Remember, all winning must be claimed
within one month of receipt of this notice. After this date all unclaimed
funds will be included in the next stake. Please note in order to avoid
unnecessary delays and complications remember to quote your reference number
and batch numbers in all correspondence.

Furthermore, should there be any change of address do inform our agent as
soon as possible, and send to me your private telephone numbers for easy
communication. Congratulations once more from our members of staff and thank
you for being part of our promotionalprogram.

Sincerely yours,
SANDRA WILLIAMS (MS.)
Lottery Coordinator

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam