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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:
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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:
  • "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
  • "i have a new email address!" (this SPAM email was sent to thousands of people)
• 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.
  • +447092876436 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
• 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.
  • dora.west@yahoo.co.in (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
  • mark.greenfield@yahoo.co.uk

Fraud email example:

From: =?iso-8859-1?q?DORA=20WEST?= <dora.west@yahoo.co.in>
Date: Sat, 27 May 2006 20:44:18 +0530 (IST)
Subject: WINNING NOTIFICATION


I have a new email address!You can now email me at: dora.west@yahoo.co.in

TAKE SIX LOTTERY INCOPORATED

LONDON.12 BRIDGE STREET,

STAINES MIDDLESEX TW18 4TP UK

REF NUMBER: LDL/653/029/03

BATCH NUMBER: AT-040-SB06-03

WINNING NOTIFICATION

DEAR SIR/MADAM,

We are pleased to inform you, THAT AS A RESULT OF OUR

RECENT LOTTERY DRAWS HELD on the 29th April 2006. Your

e-mail address attached to ticket

number27522465896-532 with serial number 442-676 drew

lucky numbers 9-23-30-65-13-7, which consequently won

in the 2nd category. You have therefore been approved

for a lump sum pay out of 500,000 pounds (FIVE HUNDRED

THOUSAND POUNDS) Note that all participants in this

lottery program have been selected randomly through a

computer ballot system drawn from over 20,000

companies and 30,000,000 individual email addresses

from all search engines and web sites.

This promotional program takes place every year, and

is promoted and sponsored by eminent personalities

like the Sultan of Brunei, Bill Gates of Microsoft

Inc. 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 USD50 millions lot. You are requested to

contact our clearance officer below 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.

Note, you are to send to us the following information

as to open a payment file for you; this is very

imperative:

1.NAME IN FULL.

2.CONTACT ADDRESS.

3.TEL/FAX NUMBER.

4.DATE OF BIRTH.

5.OCCUPATION.

COUNTRY.

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,

MISS DORA WEST

(LOTTERY CO-ORDINATOR)

YOU ARE ADVICE TO CONTACT THE WINNERS DEPARTMENT FOR

YOUR CLAIM.

MR. MARK SMITH

FOREIGN DEPARTMENT MANAGER,

GREENFIELD UK LTD

PHONE: 44-7092876436

EMAIL ADDRESS: mark.greenfield@yahoo.co.uk




- DORA WEST

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam