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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.

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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!
• 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.
  • +31616064746 (Netherlands, prepaid mobile phone)
• 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.
  • seanthompson@myway.com

Fraud email example:

From: "powerball lottery" <powerball2006lotterygame6@msn.com>
Date: Tue, 03 Jan 2006 01:06:19 +0000
Subject: NOTICE OF CONSOLATION PRIZE WINNING

 

 

 

                                         POWERBALL LOTTO. BV
                                      POWERBALL-WHEEL E-GAME 2006
 
Dear Consolation Prize Winner,
 
NOTICE OF CONSOLATION PRIZE WINNING
 
This email confirms that you have been notified of by the POWERBALL INTER
LOTTO BV The Netherlands of your email lottery winning for 2005 Powerball
Lotto - Wheel E-game held on 25th october 2005.
 
We wish to congratulate you on the selection of your email coupon number
which was selected among the 45 lucky consolation prize winners.
Your email ID identified with Coupon No.PBL2348974321 and was selected by
Electronic Random Selection System (ERSS) with entries from the 50,000
different email addresses enrolled for the Lotto-Wheel E-game.
Your email ID included among the 50,000 different email addresses where
submitted by our partner international email provider companies.
 
Prize Ref No.:  PBL/CN/6654/CP
Lottery Group: Consolation Prize Group
Prize Amount:  US $500,000 Five Hundred Thousand Dollars Only
 
You are required to file claims for your lottery prize winning by contacting
the Lottery Claims Processing Officer with your winning information provided
above.
 
Lottery Claims Officer:
Name:    Mr.Sean Thompson
Email:   seanthompson@myway.com
Tel:     0031616064746 or +31616064746
Fax:     0031620579576 or +31620579576
 
Congratulations once again from all our staffs on your consolation prize
winning, we hope you will partake in our forth coming Powerball Lotto-Wheel
Email-games.
 
Yours truly,
 
Mrs.Birgit Romio
(Lottery Co-ordinator

--

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam