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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")
  • "million 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.
  • +31643055368 (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.
  • dpagencynl@netscape.net (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: info@obonus.orangehome.co.uk
Date: Thu, 23 Nov 2006 22:16:15 +0100 (CET)
Subject: ANNUAL CHRISTMAS BONAZA


ANNUAL CHRISTMAS BONAZA
EMAIL LOTTERY PROMOTION
SOEST, THE NETHERLANDS.
REFERENCE-NUMBERS: DNL/344/181/897
BATCH-NUMBERS: SNL/521/45/772
Dear Sir/Madam,
We are glad to inform you of the result of Annual Christmas Email Lottery Bonaza held on the 20th NOVEMBER, 2006 and that you were one of the FIVE LUCKY WINNERS, and your e-mail address was attached to:
SERIAL-NUMBERS: 059-392-1672.
TICKET NUMBERS: 007NL/226/451.
which consequently won in category (B) you have therefore been approved for a lump sum of ($1,000,000.00) ONE MILLION UNITED STATES DOLLARS.
CONGRATULATIONS!!!
Please be informed that all participants were selected through a computer ballot system drawn from over 75,000 companies and 200,000,000 individual email addresses and names from all over the world No tickets were sold.
This promotion takes place Once in a year and it is sponsor by DPANL ONLINE PROMOTION INTERNATIONAL. It is also important to inform you that your PRIZE MONEY has been insured and deposited with our correspondent Bank who will effect your payment upon the requirements/verifications, satisfactory report from the appointed Claim Agent.
Please to file in for your claims,you are therefore advised to contact your Claim's Agent with the below address.
DPANL CONSULTANT AGENCY BV
MR. ERIC VAN HANS
(OPERATIONAL DIRECTOR)
Tel: +31-643-055-368
Contact Email Address:dpagencynl@netscape.net
Please,remember that all winnings must be claimed within 15 days of this notification.
For security reasons, you are advised to keep your winning information confidential till your claim is processed and your winning fund is remitted to you in whatever manner you deem fit to claim your prize.This is part of our precautionary measure to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program.
Please you are advise to quote your reference and Batch numbers
in all correspondence to avoid delay in the processing of your claim.
Congratulations once more from our members of staff and thank you for being part of our promotional program.
Note: Anybody under the age of 16 is automatically disqualified.
Yours faithfully,
Mrs.Kori Wilfred
Lottery Manager

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam