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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.
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "million 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.
  • interswiss@swissmail.net
  • sandrawillmore@swissmail.net (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: SANDRA WILLMORE <SANDRAWILLMORE@NETSCAPE.NET>
Reply-To: SANDRAWILLMORE@SWISSMAIL.NET
Date: Tue, 16 May 2006 11:49:30 +0100
Subject: congratulation (you are a winner)


INTERNET SWISS LOTTO
Swiss International Winnings Via Internet
Aeschenvorstadt 4
CH-4052 BASEL
REF NUMBER: CSL/74/368/06
BATCH NUMBER: CS-121-LT-I22-01-06
Email: interswiss@swissmail.net
Good Day,
We are pleased to inform you, that as a result of our
Lottery DRAWS
held on the 12th May, 2006, your e-mail address
attached to ticket
number
63538953216-435 with serial number 172-488 drew lucky
numbers 3-10-16-29-43-49 which consequently won in the
2nd category. You have therefore been approved for a
lump sum of US$2,000,000:00 (Two Million United States
Dollars).
Note that all participants in this lottery program
have been selected randomly through a computer ballot
system drawn from over twenty thousand companies and
three hundred
million individual email addresses from all search
engines and
web sites. This promotional program takes place every
year and is promoted and sponsored by Corporate bodies
like Microsoft,
oracle, Dell Computers,HP Computers,Toshiba Computers
and other
Corporate Organizations, this is to encourage the use
of the Internet
and
computers worldwide.
For security purpose and clarity, we advise 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 to avoid
double claims and unwarranted abuse of this program by
some participants. We look forward to your active
participation in our next year draws.
You are requested to contact the clearance coordinator
on this email:
sandrawillmore@swissmail.net to assist you with your
winnings and
subsequent
payments. All winnings must be claimed not later than
one month after the date of this notice.
Please note, in order to avoid unnecessary delays and
complications, remember to quote your reference number
and batch numbers in all correspondence. Furthermore,
should there be any change of address do inform our
Agent as soon as possible.
Congratulations once more and thank you for being part
of our promotional program.
NOTE: YOU ARE AUTOMATICALLY DISQUALIFIED IF YOU ARE
BELOW 18 YEARS OF AGE.
Sincerely yours,
Mss. Sandra Willmore
(LOTTERY COORDINATOR)

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam