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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:

• An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
• 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.
  • +31623009849 (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.
  • hillstafinance@netscape.net (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: EUROPEAN UNION INTERNATIONAL LOTTERY <alimembi1@walla.com>
Date: Fri, 10 Mar 2006 23:37:37 +0100
Subject: PROMOTION PROGRAM!!!

PROMOTION PROGRAM!!!
EUROPEAN UNION INTERNATIONAL LOTTERY
INTERNATIONAL WINNERS/PRIZE AWARD DEPT.
Ref. Number: NL/9753/05
Batch Number: 09/5260/AM
ATTENTION.
Sir/Ma/Miss,
We are pleased to inform you of the result of the winners of the EURO
STAKES
(eul)LOTTERY euro lottery programs held on the 21st of December,2005.
Your e-mail address attached to ticket number
0767--45363763--254 with serial
number 2015--05 drew lucky numbers 44-5647-567 which consequently won
in the
3rd category.
This promotional program takes place every three years in different
developed countries,the lottery was promoted and sponsored by the
President
of the World Largest software,Bill Gates to increase the awareness of
microsoft software packages.
All participants were selected through a computer ballot system drawn
from
over 20,000 company and 30,000,000 individual email addresses and names
from
all over the world.
You have therefore been approved for a lump sum pay of 500,000,00
euros(Five
hundred thousand euros) in cash,credited to your file with the Ref.
Number:NL/9753/05 and Batch Number:09/5260/AM.
This is from a total cash prize of US
$6.000.000.00(Six million Euros)shared among the Twelve international
winners in this category.
Due to mix up of some numbers and names we ask that you keep your
winning
information confidential until your claims have been processed and your
money remitted to you.This is part of our security protocol in order to
avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program by some
participants.
We hope with part of your winning you will take part in our next year
24 million euro international lottery.
To file for your claims please contact our financial
agent:

Paddy Davies,
Foreign Operations Manager,
of the (Hillstar Finance and Securities) Amsterdam,Netherlands.
TEL:+31-623-009-849
FAX:+31-847-547-366
email:( hillstafinance@netscape.net )

Remember all winning must be claimed not later than 27th of March,2006
thereafter all unclaimed funds will be included in the next stake.
please note in order to avoid unnecessary delays an complications
endevour
to quote your reference and batch numbers in all first correspondence.
furthermore,should there be any change of address do inform our agent
as
soon as possible.
congratulations!!
once more from our members of staff and thank you for being part of our
promotional program.
note:anybody under the age of 18 is automatically disqualified.
Sincerely yours,
Veronica Smith,
lottery cordinator

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam