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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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• 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:

• An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
• The following fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
  • "lottery winners international e-mail programs"
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "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.
  • +447031958098 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
• 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.
  • greglouisconsul@netscape.net (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: paige@pberth.orangehome.co.uk
Date: Mon, 20 Nov 2006 16:34:32 +0100 (CET)
Subject: Annoucement on Lotto Award


Annoucement on Lotto Award
Sir/Madam
Being officially assigned to
select winners across the globe, the management is pleased to inform
you of the result of the Intercasino GBP millions British Lottery
Winners International E-mail programs held on the 28th October 2006
and result where release on the 20th November, 2006. Your E-mail
address attached to ticket number 653-908-321-675 with serial main
number 345- 790-241-671 drew lucky star numbers 34-32-90-43-32 which
consequently won in the 2nd category, you have therefore been approved
for a lump sum pay out of GBP1.500.000.00, with REFERENCE #: 67/80/IPD
and BATCH #: EGGS-541-623-782.

Due to mix up of some numbers and names, we ask that you keep your winning
information confidential until your claims has been processed and your money
remitted to you. This is part of our security protocol to avoid double claiming
and unwarranted abuse of this program by some participants. All participants
were selected through a computer ballot system drawn from
over 100,000 company and 50,000,000 individual email addresses and
names from all over the world.

This lottery was promoted and sponsored by Software Companies in order to enhance and
promote the use of Internet Explorer Users and Microsoft-wares around the globe.

To file for your claim, please contact our fiducial agent:
Mr Louis E. Greg
email:greglouisconsul@netscape.net
Tel:+44 703 195 8098
Fax:+44 709 287 2619
FOREIGN SERVICE MANAGER


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

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam