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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.
• 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.
  • +31643164770 (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.
  • jamessmith77@netscape.net (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "Union Australia Lottery" <arielsbertis11001@yahoo.au>
Date: Fri, 12 May 2006 21:55:19 +0200
Subject: RE :CONTACT THE BANK FOR PAYMENT

From: Ms. Sharon Maxwell.
e-mail : arielsbertis11001@yahoo.au
(Lottery Coordinator)
South-West Australia Lottery,
38 Archerfield Road,
Darra, QLD, 4076,
Queensland, Australia.
South-West 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 South-West Australia
Lottery, held on the 10th May 2006. Your e-mail address attached to Ref
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.

Due to the 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 ourccredited paying bank. You must adhere to this
instructions strictly to
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.

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.
(vi) Age
Contact the paying bank with the following:
Credittrust Bank NV.
Attention: Mr James Smith
Credittrust Bank, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
E-mail: jamessmith77@netscape.net
Tel : +31-643-164-770
Fax : +31-847-445-425

Congratulations once again.
Yours in service,
Ms. Sharon Maxwell.
Lottery Coordinator

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam