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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.
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
• 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.
  • services44@aim.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: <sop_pam@yahoo.com>
Date: Mon, 12 Jun 2006 04:01:51 +1200
Subject: Batch: 074/05/ZY369

BATCH NUMBER : NM/207161/WOP. LOTTO NL. INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS/PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT ROTERSSTRAAT 11, 1018 WB AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS. RESULTS FOR CATEGORY "A" DRAWS Dear Sir/Madam, Congratulations to you as we bring to your notice, the results of the Second Category draws of THE LOTT NL.PROMO INT. We are happy to inform you that you have emerged as a winner under the First Category, which is part of our promotional draws. The results of the draws hve been officially announced . Participants were selected through a computer ballot system drawn from 2,500,000 email addresses of individuals and companies from Africa, America, Asia,Australia, Europe, Middle East, and Oceania as part of our International Promotions Program. Your e-mail address, attached to ticket number 46939,with serial number 472-9768 and lucky number W-91237-H?67/B4 consequently won in the First Category. You have therefore been awarded a lump sumpay out of 1,000,000 (One Million Euros), which is the winning payout for Category A winners. This is from a total cash prize of ?10,000,000.00 (Ten Million Euros) shared amongst the first Ten (10) lucky winners in this category. In your best interest to avoid mix up of numbers and names of any kind, we request that you keep the entire details of your award strictly from public notice until the process of transferring your claims has been completed, and your funds remitted to your account.This is part of our security protocol to avoid double claiming or unscrupulous acts by Participants/nonparticipants of this program. Please contact our paying bank (laagste Bank) immediately for due processing and remittance of your prize money to a designated account of your choice: NOTE: For easy reference and identification, find below your Reference and Batch numbers. Remember to quote these numbers in your correspondence with your paying bank.Also give them the following informations Name Age Address Occupation REF Number: NM/BC921245/KY14 BATCH No: NM/207161/WOP. CONGRATULATIONS!!! Your fund is now deposited with the paying Bank. To begin your claims, kindly contact the paying bank with the below information *********************************************** NOTE: All claims are nullified after 10 working days from today. Congratulations once again from all our staff, and thank you for being part of our promotions program. Yours Sincerely, : MR Otto Bruderer LAAGSTE BANK E:MAIL : services44@aim.com :Tel:0031-616-217-896 Fax: 0031-801--730-7434. (Lottery Coordinator).

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam