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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!
  
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• 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:
  • "from the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "hundred thousand united states dollars" (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.
  • +31644893668 (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.
  • h_pieter02@yahoo.de

Fraud email example:

From: "FROM THE DESK OF THE DIRECTOR INTERNATIONAL PRIZE AWARD DEPT" <international_prizeawardd@caramail.com>
Date: Sun, 22 Oct 2006 07:27:10 -0400
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

FROM THE DESK OF THE DIRECTOR INTERNATIONAL PRIZE AWARD DEPT

Attn Lucky Winner,

WINNING NOTIFICATION FOR CATEGORY "A" WINNER ONLY

We are pleased to inform you of the result of the last final annual draw of
our Lottery International Programs.

The online cyber lotto draws was conducted from an exclusive list of
25,000,000 e-mail addresses of individual and corporate bodies picked
by an advanced automated random computer search from the internet. No
tickets were sold.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

After this automated computer ballot, your e-mail address emerged as a
winner in the category "A" with the following numbers attached Ref
Number: EH 9590 OG 0612, Batch Number: 563881545-NL/2006 and Ticket Number:
PA 3502 /8707-01

You are therefore to receive a cash prize of $2,500,000.00. (Two Million
Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars) from the total payout
CONGRATULATIONS!!!. Your prize award has been insured with your e-mail
address and will be transferred to you upon meeting our requirements,
statutory obligations, verifications, validations and satisfactory report.

To file in for the processing of your prize winnings, you are advised to
contact our Certified and Accredited claims agent for
category "A" winners with the information below:
************************************************
Name: Pieter Henk
Phone: +31 644 893 668
Email: h_pieter02@yahoo.de
Email: henkforeignserv@aol.co.uk
************************************************
You are advice to provide him with the following information:
Names:
Telephone/Fax number:
Nationality:
Age:

NOTE: All winnings must be claimed not later than 14 days, thereafter
unclaimed funds would be included in the next stake.
Remember to quote your reference information in all correspondence.

You are to keep all lotto information confidential, especially your
reference and ticket numbers. (This is important as a case of double
claims will not be entertained).Members of the affiliate agencies are
automatically not allowed to participate in this program.

Furthermore, should there be any change of address do inform our agent as
soon as possible.

Congratulations once more from our members of staff and thank you for being
part of our promotional program.

Yours Faithfully,
Walter Jones.
Lottery Coordinator.
Thank you and congratulations!!!

This email may contain information which is confidential and/or privileged.
The information is intended solely for the use of the individual or entity
named above. If you are not the intended recipient, be aware
that any disclosure, copying, distribution or use of the contents is
prohibited. If you have received this electronic transmission in
error,please notify the sender by telephone or return email and delete the
material from your computer.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam