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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:
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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:
  • "fiduciary agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "transfer of your funds" (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.
  • +447024077907 (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.
  • alexwhite_agency@hotmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "MSN PROGRAM LOTTERY" <motto.life.change.uk26@hotmail.com>
Date: Sun, 10 Dec 2006 12:16:22 -0500
Subject: WE ARE HAPPY TO ANNOUNCE TO YOU THE RESULT IN MSN LOTTERY WHICH YOUR ID HAVE WON

 

 

UK MICROSOFT JACKPOT LOTTERY                                   THE WINNING NUMBERS                                                                                                                                      Aword Notification   REF NO:56475600545 188     With pleasure The UK MSN Mega Jackpot Lottery, organizers of the Msn Company, Euro millions, weekly Play, Thunder ball, Mega Jackpot, and MSN Extra announce to you the result of draw (#1055) of the UK MSN Mega Jackpot Lottery, Program held on 9th December 2006 in London UK. Your e-mail address attached to raffle number: 56475600545 188 with Serial number 5368/02 drew the lucky numbers: (05-11-13-17-44-48-25) You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of £2,000,000,00 (Two millions great Britain pound) , credited to file UKMSN/9023118308/03 with a consolation prize of a Dell Pentium 4 Laptop and a MSN Lottery T-shirt. Please note that your lucky winning number falls within our Western booklet representative office in Africa (NIGERIA). For instance, if you are a citizen/indigene of UK and you won this lottery and you are residing outside UK you have to travel to UK to claim your prize, As indicated in your play coupon. In view of this, the claims department will guild you to claim your £2,000,000,00 and your consolation prizes to you. Our claims agent will immediately commence the process to facilitate the transfer of your funds to the paying bank as soon as you contact him. All participants for the MSN version were selected randomly from the World Wide Web through a computer draw system and extracted from over 100,000 unions, associations, and corporate bodies that are listed online. This promotion takes place weekly. For security reasons, you are advised to keep your winning information confidential till your claims are processed and your money remitted to you in whatever manner you deem it fit to claim your prize. This is part of our precautionary measure to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program by some unscrupulous elements.Please be warned. To file for your claim, please contact our fiduciary agent      MR. ALEX WHITE  The MSN Foundation, claims department Email: alexwhite_agency@hotmail.com TEL/FAX: +447024077907/+447011129988 Provide him with the information below: FULL   NAME............................................WINNING E-MAIL ......................   ADDRESS..........................................................................................   FULL ADDRESS:..............................................................................   YOUR RESIDENT TOWN..................................................................   SEX:................................ DATE OF BIRTH......................................   OCCUPATION...................................................................................   AMOUNT WON....................................TEL........................................   MOBILE........................... COUNTRY.................................................   DRAW NO:..........................................WINNING NO:........................   RAFFLE NUMBER.................. SCANNED............................................   indicate the booklet were your winning falls..............................   IDENTITY CARD.......................................(Optional) NOTE: You are required to process your winnings in a period not more than 31working days otherwise you will have to file a forfeiture notice for not been able to file your claims. OFFICIAL USE ONLY Verified by: ------------------------------------- Confirmed by: ------------------------------- To avoid unnecessary delays and complications; please quote your reference/batch numbers in any correspondence with our designated agent or us. Congratulations once more from all members and staff of this program. Thank you for being part of our promotional lottery program. You might receive similar emails from people who will be asking for your personal information’s, if they are not from us please disregard it as they will be using that means to get your information which they would want to use to impersonate you and claim your winnings, we have been witnessing similar cases, be warned. Sincerely, MRS MONICA SHAGAYA Coordinator for UK MSN Lottery Program.                                                                                                                     Dr.MONICA SHAGAYA                                Mrs. Maurrine H. Diane    Online Co-ordinator                                          Secretary                                                                                    LOTTERY SPONSOR                                                                       Microsoft Corporation U.K.                                                     ____________________________________________________________________________________                                                                   Note; Do not reply this mail, you are to contact your claims officer immediately by email. Microsoft Electronic Mail Lottery is approved and Licensed by the The International Association of Gaming Regulators (IAGR).

 

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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam