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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:
  • "claims 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.
  • +31619020980 (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.
  • lottonl999@aim.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: tamara brown <tamara@tamarabrown.orangehome.co.uk>
Date: Sat, 7 Oct 2006 12:20:45 +0200 (CEST)
Subject: YOU HAVE WON!!CONTACT ANTHONY HANS.


YOU HAVE WON!!CONTACT ANTHONY HANS.
European Promotional Draws Amsterdam Netherlands.

Dear Lucky Winner,
THE EUROPEAN SOFTWARE MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATION PROMOTION PRIZE AWARDS WINNING NOTIFICATION.

We are pleased to inform you of the result of the just concluded annual final draws of The European Software Manufacturers Association Annual Promo Draws.

The online European Software Manufacturers Association Annual Promo draws was conducted by a random selection of email addresses from an exclusive list of 29,031 E-mail addresses of individuals and corporate bodies picked by an advanced automated random computer search from the internet. However, no tickets were sold but all email addresses were assigned to different ticket numbers for representation and privacy.

After this automated computer ballot, your e-mail address emerged as one of twelve winners in the second category with the following data:
Ref Number: MMCAN/652311872/06
Batch Number: 074/06/369MM

You as well as the other winners are therefore to receive a cash prize of Euros1,500,000.00 (ONE MILLION, FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND EUROS ONLY) each from the total payout.

Your prize award has been insured with your e-mail address and will be transferred to you upon meeting the requirements, statutory obligations, verifications, validations and satisfactory report.

To begin the claims processing of your prize winnings you are advised to contact our licensed and accredited Claims Manager for SECOND category winners with the information below:
Mr. Anthony Hans.
Promo Claims Manager.
Email:lottonl999@aim.com
Tel- +31-619020980.
Fax:+31-84-727-5438
Remember to quote your reference information in all correspondence with your claims agent.
Members of the affiliate agencies are automatically not allowed to participate in this program.
Please be warned! Fraudulent emails are circulating that appear to be using Lotto Netherlands addresses, but are not from Lotto Netherlands. PLEASE REPORT IMMEDIATELY TO: ANY LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENT NEAREST TO YOU.

Yours faithfully,
Tamara Brown (Mrs.).
ESMA Games/Lottery Coordinator

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam