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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)
• 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 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.
  • custservices@netscape.net (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "australialottery@walla.com" <australialottery@walla.com>
Date: Sat, 09 Dec 2006 22:17:25 +0300
Subject: Claim your prize.

NSW Lotteries Corporation,
Special Edition.
2 Figtree Drive,
Homebush Bay NSW 2127

Dear Sir/Madam,

Congratulations: claim $1,000,000.00 prize money.

This is to announce the result of the last sweepstake of NSW Australian
Lottery held on the 6th, December 2006. Your
e-mail address attached to prize winning number: 0116 1307 0199 6088 16 15
and a special supplementary number:
92 70 drew a prize money of $1,000, 000.00 (One Million USDollars). This
lucky numbers attached to your e-mail
address came first in the 2nd Category of the Sweepstake draws. You will
receive the sum of $1,000,000.00 (One
Million USDollars) from our authorized bank in Netherlands.

Because of some mix-up with our sweepstake numbers and prizes, plus the
time limited placed on the payment of your
prize: $1,000, 000.00, we advice that you keep all information about this
prize confidential until your funds:
$1,000,000.00 have been transferred to you by the authorized bank in The
Netherlands. You must adhere to this
instruction, strictly, to avoid any delay with the release of your funds to
your person.
This program has been abused severally in past, so we are doing our best to
forestall further occurrence of
past mix-ups.

This sweepstake was conducted under the watchful eyes of 8,500 spectators.
Your e-mail address attached to prize
winning number: 0116 1307 0199 6088 16 15 was selected and; it came first
through a "SPECIAL" e-ballot draw
from over 150,000 e-mail addresses
(Personal and corporate e-mail addresses). This program is sponsored by
Microsoft and GCI networks to compensate
faithful internet suffers around the globe.
Congratulations for becoming one of the few lucky winners in NSW Lotteries
special edition. With your permission,
your e-mail will also be included in the next sweepstake of $4Million.

You must claim your prize: $1,000,000.00 not later than 7-days from the
moment you receive this e-mail. In order to
avoid unnecessary delays with your claim from our authorized bank; please
contact them immediately, and quote
your winning and personal information now.

The bank contact details are as follow(s):
Bank: Deutsche Bank.
Contact person: John Hawkins.
Vice President: Private Banking and Assets Management.
Tel: 0031 616 293 431.
Fax: 0031 847 134 206.
E-mail address: custservices@netscape.net

Furnish them with the following:
(i). your name(s),
(ii) Your telephone and fax numbers
(iii) Your contact address
(iv) Your winning information (including amount won).

Congratulations.
Yours sincerely,
Arien Von Cretia.
NSW Australian Lotteries.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam