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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
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• 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.

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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.
  • +31633785416 (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.
  • swissfirstbanks@netscape.net

Fraud email example:

From: "Union Australia Lottery" <arielsbertis@mails.de>
Date: Thu, 16 Feb 2006 12:31:36 -0300
Subject: CONTACT THE PAYINY BANK

Union Australia Lottery,
38 Archerfield Road,
Darra, QLD, 4076,
Queensland, Australia.
Union Australia Lottery partners: ABN Gaming Board.
PO Box 1738, 3000 DR Rotterdam, Netherlands.


Sir/Madam,

CONGRATULATIONS: YOU WON.

It's our pleasure to inform you of the result of the Union Australia
Lottery,
held on the 13th, February 2006. Your e-mail address attached to e-ticket
number: 000101376290, with Cash Prize
number 09910987612, drew €2,000,000.00 (Two Million EUros), which was first
in the 3rd Category of the draws. You have
been approved to receive the sum of €2,000,000.00 (Two Million Euros) from
our paying bank.
Because of mix-up of information(claims) and the limited time for your cash
prize pay-out, we will advice that you keep all
information about this notification confidential(secret) until your prize
(€2,000,000.00) have been remitted to you by our
accredited paying bank. You must adhere to this instructions strictly to
avoid the loose of your cash prize to internet abusers
– this program has been abused severally, so we are doing our best to
forestall further abuse by false claims.
It's important to note that this draws were conducted formally under the
watchful eyes of over a 8,000
audiences. Winners were selected through an internet ballot system from
250,000 e-mail addresses(both personal and
corporate e-mail addresses). This program is sponsored and supported by
T-NET ASSETS, in conjunction
with Union Australia lottery.
Congratulations once again. Your e-mail address will be used to participate
in our next, mega,
draw: €65Million.
BE INFORMED: all winning (cash prize) must be claimed not later than
10-days after you receive this notification.
Failure to claim your cash prize after this date will result in your cash
prize forfeiture.
Please, in order to avoid unnecessary delays and complications during the
remitance of your funds, remember to always quote
your personal and winning information in your correspondence with the
paying bank.

Please contact the paying bank with these information for the immediate
remittance of your funds to you.
Kindly send them the following:
(i). your names,
(ii) Contact telephone and fax numbers
(iii) Contact Address
(iv) Your winning numbers
(v) Quote amount won.

Contact the paying bank with the following:
Swissfirst Bank AG,
Attention: Daniel Hefti.
Swissfirst Bank AG, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
E-mail: swissfirstbanks@netscape.net
Tel: (+3163) 378 5416.
Fax: (+3184) 713 4206 .

Congratulations once again.
Yours in service,
Judith Clayton (Ms.) CPA.
Lottery Coordinator.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam