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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.
• 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.
  • +31647494026 (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.
  • claimofficeinfo@aim.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "lucky winner" <yolandavan01@hotmail.com>
Date: Sun, 03 Dec 2006 21:47:13 +0000
Subject: YOU HAVE WON

MICROSOFT MEGA JACKPOT LOTTERY NL.

MICROSOFT EMAIL
LOTTERY AWARD
PROMOTION: NETHERLANDS

REF NO: MSW/56B-672GH/L
BATCH: 4583JL/WIN

Finally today, we announce the winners of the MICROSOFT MEGA JACKPOT LOTTO
WINNINGS PROGRAMS held early this month 2006. Your company or your personal
e-mail address, attached to winning number 23-76-06-54-42-100, With serial
number 647489, consequently won in the 1st lottery category.

You have been approved for lump sums pay out of $1,000,000,00 US Dollars in
cash Credited to file REF NO: MSW/56B-672GH/L and winning number
23-76-06-54-42-100. Selection process was carried out through random
selection in our computerized email selection machine (TOPAZ) from a
database of over 1,000,000 email addresses drawn from all the continents of
the world.

The online 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. No ticket were sold but all email addresses were assigned to
different ticket numbers for representation and privacy. This is to
encourage our prominent Microsoft Internet Explorer users all over the
world, and for the Continues use of E-mail.

Your fund (Certified Cashiers Cheque) has been insured with your REF NO:
MSW/56B-672GH/L and winning number 23-76-06-54-42-100. To claim your winning
prize, you must first contact the claims department by email for Processing
and remittance of your prize to you.

Name: Mr.Peter Smith
Tel:+31-647-494-026
E-mail: claimofficeinfo@aim.com

Do email the above email address all at once. In order to avoid unnecessary
delays and complications, please remember to quote your reference and
winning numbers in all correspondences with your claims officer. You are to
keep all lotto information away from the general public especially your
ticket number and ballot number.
(This is important as a case of double claims will not be entertained)

Sincerely,
Dr. Phillip George
Online Co-ordinator

_________________________________________________________________
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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam