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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)
  • "claim agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "foreign service manager" (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 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.
  • +31629271937 (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.
  • stinglotto2006@aim.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "NOTIFICATION" <providentisco@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Fri, 07 Jul 2006 02:23:14 +0900
Subject: YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS WON THE PRIZE!!

STINGS INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS PROGRAMS ********************************************************************* 101 AMERSFOORTSESTRAATSEWEG,1677 LEIDEN AMSTERDAM THE NETHERLANDS ********************************************************************** PROMOTIONS/PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT DEAR SIR/MADAM, RESULTS FOR SECOND CATEGORY DRAWS. After a successful completion of the second category draws of STINGS-LOTTERY GAMES INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS. You have emerged one of the winners of the STINGS-LOTTERY GAME INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS, which is part of our promotional draws. Participants were selected through a computer ballot system drawn from 30,000 email addresses of individuals and companies from America, Africa, Asia, Australia, Canada, Europe, Middle East, and New Zealand as part of our International Promotions Program. ********************************************************************* You/Your Company, attached to: TICKET NUMBER:HGL-5-9827-NL\GSI LUCKY NUMBERS: 13-15-16-21-34-36 BATCH /1490/001753V00/GSI REFERENCE /GSI/2551256003/055 ********************************************************************* As a category B winner, you have been selected by computer balloting system where only email addresses are soughted,from a total numbers of 30,000 email addresses drawn from all over the globe. After an automated computer ballot of our International PromotionsProgram consequently won in the second Category. You have therefore been awarded a lump sum pay out of 1,500,000.00EUROS in cash, which is the winning payout for second categories winners. This is from the total prize money of 10,000,000.00Euros shared among the eight international winners in the SECOND category. CONGRATULATIONS! You have to contact the (GSI GATEWAY SECURITY INC) for immediate remittance your E-mail address won the lucky number. To avoid mix up of numbers and names of any kind, we request that you keep this award strictly from public notice until the entire 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 of this program. required by the (GSI GATEWAY SECURITY INC). We also wish to bring to your notice our End of Year(2006) high stakes where you stand a chance of winning up to 13 million Euros; We hope that with a part of your prize you will participate. To begin your claims process please contact your claims agent. ********************************************************************* MR.LUCKY JAM FOREIGN SERVICE MANAGER (GSI)GATEWAY SECURITY INC 45 FREINSTEIN STRAATWEG 1670 NT OOSTERWEG AMSTERDAM THE NETHERLANDS Tel: + 31-629-271-937 Fax: + 31-847-137-938 EMAIL:(stinglotto2006@aim.com) ********************************************************************** for due processing and remittance of your prize money to a designated account of your choice. Remember, you must contact your claim agent not later than 30th AUGUST 2006 after this date, all funds will be returned as unclaimed. NOTE: To avoid unnecessary delays and complications, please remember to quote your reference and batch numbers provided below in every one of your correspondence with your claims agent. You are to provide the below details,to enable the speedy evaluation and processing of your winnings. we advice that you adhere strictly to their procedures to avoid any disqualifications and subsequent cancellation. 1. Full Names 2. Full Home / Office Address 3. Direct Telephone/Fax Numbers the above detailed information will be absolutely necessary to file in your claims. Congratulations once again from all our staffs of (STINGS-LOTTERY INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS thank you for being part of our promotions program. Sincerely, THE LOTTERY COORDINATOR, STINGS-LOTTERY INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS. Sincerely, MR LUCKY JAM N.B. Any breach of confidentiality on the part of the winners will result to disqualification. Please do not reply to this mail. Contact your claims agent.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam