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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:
  1 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
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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:

• An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "fiduciary agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "hundred thousand united states dollars" (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!
• 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.
  • tonybeny2@yahoo.co.uk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "online lottery" <uk_online_lottery50@msn.com>
Date: Thu, 19 Jan 2006 19:19:45 +0000
Subject: WINNING NOTIFICATION

EURO-AMERICAN-LOTTERY Headquarters:
Customer Service
Ref: UK/9420X2/68
Batch: 074/05/ZY369

WINNING NOTIFICATION:

It is with great pleasure we announce to you, the draw of the
EURO-AMERICAN-LOTTO Sweepstake Online Lottery International programs held
on the 19th of january, 2006 in BRESIA ITALY Your e-mail address attached to
ticket number: 56475600545 188 with Serial number 5368/02drew the lucky
numbers:19-6-26-17-35-7, which subsequently won you the lottery in the 2nd
category.

You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of Five Hundred
Thousand United States Dollars(US$500,000.00) in cash credited to file
ktu/9023118308/03.This is from a total cash prize of US $ 5 Million
dollars, shared amongst the first Ten (10) lucky winners in this category.
All participants
were randomly selected from World Wide Web site through computer draw
system and extracted from over 100,000 companies.

This promotion takes place annually. Please note that your lucky winning
number falls within our European booklet representative office in Europe as
indicated in your play coupon.In view of this, your Five Hundred Thousand
United States Dollars(US$500, 000.00)would be released to you by our payment
office in europe.Our European agent will immediately commence the process to
facilitate the release of your funds as soon as you contact him.

For security reasons, you are enjoined to keep your winning information
confidential till your claims is processed and your money remitted to you in
whatever manner you deem fit to claim your
prize.

This is part of our precautionary measure to avoid double claiming and
unwarranted abuse of this program by some unscrupulous elements.Please, be
adviced. To file for your claim, please contact our
fiduciary agent:

Mr. Tony Beny.
Email: tonybeny2@yahoo.co.uk

To avoid unnecessary delays and
complications, please quote the following: YOUR FULL NAMES, AGE, SEX,
COUNTRY, PRIVATE TELEPHONE & FAX NUMBER AND YOUR REFERENCE/BATCH
NUMBERS etc in any correspondences with our designated agent. Once
again, Congratulations.
Sincerely,
RITA JONES.
EURO-AMERICAN-LOTTO Co-ordinator .

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam