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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:
  • "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
  • "transfer of your funds" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
• 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: "Century Agency" <centuryagency7@msn.com>
Reply-To: r_thomson@o2.pl
Date: Thu, 19 Jan 2006 12:37:06 +0000
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

Lucky Star International Lotteries,
Corporate Headquarters: Maliebaan 38-40, 3581CR,
Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

Dear Sir/Madam,
Congratulations!
With utmost joy, we are pleased to inform you of the result of the Lucky
Star International Lotteries programs, held on the 29th of Desember 2005,
which drew a cash prize of $750,000.00. Your e-mail address attached to
Ticket/Code number
TK7561/04222B with claim/reference number 2917-323 drew these lucky numbers
007-49746-041-764-64-2091, which consequently won in the 3rd category. You
have been approved to receive a cash prize of $750,000.00 (Seven Hundred and
Fifty Thousand USD) only. Be advised that due to incessant mix up in cash
prize transfer to previous winners, we advise that you keep your winning
information confidential until your claim has been processed and released to
you. This security measure is critical; its a measure put in place to avoid
double claims, transfer and unwarranted abuse of this program by other
participants.

METHOD OF SELECTING WINNERS:
Participants were selected anonymously through a private ballot system
(computer ballot) from over 35,000 companies and 70,000 individual e-mail
addresses all over the world. At the final draw your e-mail address emerged
as the winner of our last jackpot. This is promotional program takes place
bi-annually, and it is promoted and sponsored by Orient software corporation
(Orient Networks). It is meant to reward some individuals and corporations
who have devoted their time and resources surfing the world wide web (www)
with their email addresses. Remember, all winning must be claimed not later
than 7 working days from the 25th January 2006. After the expiration of that
time frame, if your funds are unclaimed, it will be refunded to us and
included in our next draws.
We hope you will use part of your cash prize to participate in our next
$8million draws in March 2006.


Lastly, in order to avoid unnecessary delays/complications with the transfer
of your funds to you, please always remember to quote your Code number in
all correspondence with our paying agency(West African Monetary
Institute,Accra, Ghana) Stating your full names and address, your telephone
number, fax number if any, your occupation and your likely payment option .
Furthermore, should there be any change of your present address, please
notify us immediately so to make the appropriate adjustment.

You are to contact the fiduciary paying agency as mentioned below for the
processing of your claims.
West African Monetary Agency
Contact person: Mr.Ray Thomson.
Claims Processing/Legal Department
E-mail: r_thom@o2.pl

Congratulations.
Yours in services,
Scott Frederic.
(Lottery Coordinator)


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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam