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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
• Support our efforts to stop scams!
  
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• What can you do when you receive 419 spam
  
  
• Spam archive, Daily index
  

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.

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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:
  • "claim agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "hundred thousand 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.
  • +34686331775 (Spain, 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.
  • lottonet2agent@yahoo.co.uk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: LOTT0NET INTERNATIONAL <lottonetagent@yahoo.co.uk>
Reply-To: lottonet2agent@yahoo.co.uk
Date: Thu, 04 Jan 2007 16:55:03 +0100
Subject: QUICK NOTICE


FROM: GOVERNMENT ACCREDITED LICENSED LOTTERY PROMOTERS.
WINNING NOTICE FOR CATEGORY "A" WINNER
Dear Lucky Winner,
RE: LOTTERY PROMOTION PRIZE AWARDS WINNING NOTIFICATION
We are pleased to inform you of the result of the just concluded new
year final draws of International Internet Lottery programs. The online
cyber lotto draws was conducted from an exclusive list of 10,000,000
e-mail addresses of individual and corporate bodies picked by an advanced
automated random computer search around the world from the internet.
Please know that there are no ticket sales for this promotion. After this
automated computer ballot, your e-mail address emerged as one of two
winners in the category "A" with the following:
Ref Number: 3514933732
Batch Number: 26371545886
Ticket Number: 05 09 17 29 31 36 42
You as well as the other winner are therefore to receive a cash prize
of US$300,000.(THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND UNITED STATES DOLLARS ONLY) each from
the total payout. Your prize award has been insured with your e-mail
address and will be transferred to you upon meeting our requirements,
statutory obligations, verifications, validations and satisfactory
report.
To begin the claim processing of your cash prize award winnings
(US$300,000.M), you are advised to contact our licensed and accredited
claims agent in United Kingdom for category "B" winners and Spain for
category "A" winners:
MR PATRICK EDWARD
Legal/Financial Consultant
J A HUGHES SOLICITORS
70 De Tarvista
Madrid City
Spain
Tel Number: +34-686-331-775
Fax Number: +34-971-260-755
EMAIL: lottonet2agent@yahoo.co.uk
NOTE: All winnings must be claimed not later than 14 days from today.
After this date all unclaimed funds would be included in the next stake.
Remember to quote your reference information in all correspondence with
your claim agent. You are to keep all lotto information away from the
general public especially your reference and ticket numbers. (This is
important as a case of double claims will not be entertained).
Anybody under the age of 18 and members of the affiliate agencies are
automatically not allowed to participate in this program. Please note
that, you do not need to contact us as all further communication should
be forward to your claim agent. Congratulations from all our staff and
thank you for being part of our promotions program.
Please get in touch with your claim agent immediately.
Thank you and congratulations!!!
Yours faithfully,
Mrs Mildred Blair
Games/Lottery Coordinator.
U.K International Internet Lottery Program.
N.B. Any breach of confidentiality on the part of the winners will
result to disqualification. Please do not reply to this mail. Contact your
claim agent immediately.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam