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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
• Support our efforts to stop scams!
  
• How to report 419 spam to us
• What can you do when you receive 419 spam
  
  
• Spam archive, Daily index
  

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:

• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "claim agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
• 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.
  • +34666245078 (Spain, prepaid mobile phone)

Fraud email example:

From: THOMAS JOSE LOPEZ <thomjose_esp2005@yahoo.com>
Date: Fri, 16 Jun 2006 12:30:49 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: RECOMFIRMATION OF REFRENCE/BATCH NUMBER NEEDED


Attn: Dearest Winner,
Respect to your mail sent to us in regards to your Winning Notification , you are hereby requested to recomfirm to us your Refrence and Batch number for a comfirmation and send to us via email attachemnet or via fax an Identification of yourself (i.e) a photo copy of your International passport or driving lisence or any ID of yourself. This is to enable our office be sure of whom we are dealing with.
The processing of your file begins immedietely we recomfirm and receive your Refrence/Batch and your Identification.
Regards,
Dr Thomas Louise Jose.
Your Claim Agent.
Tel +34 666245078.





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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam