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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.
  • +31614157928 (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.
  • euolagency11@aim.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: john@johnwilliams220.orangehome.co.uk
Date: Fri, 15 Dec 2006 15:04:27 +0100 (CET)
Subject: EU GAMING INCORPORATION!!!


EU GAMING INCORPORATION!!!
E.U LOTTERY ONLINE
LOTTERY AND GAMING CORPORATION,
MONTH OF DECEMBER LOTTERY,
WINNING NUMBER: FLO-56458867
Dear Winner,
You won the sum of {Five Hundred Thousand Euro only} from the database of internet email users, from which your email address came out as the winning coupon.
We thereby contact you to claim your winning amount quickly as this is a monthly Lottery. Failure to claim your winning will result to rollover or reversion of the winning sum to the next promotion month. We also use this medium to notify you that the expiring or lapse date to claim your winning prize is limted to 20 days only.
To claim your winning prize, contact our approved agent office for your region with your winning number.
E.U LOTTERY ONLINE AGENCY
MISS. LILLIAN MORGAN.
MR. MOORE S. BROWN
DIRECTOR OF WINNING CLAIMS DEPARTMENT
TEL: +31-614-157-928
E-MAIL: euolagency11@aim.com
Once again, congratulations.
Best regards,
Mr. John Williams
Director of E.U Lottery Online

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam