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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!
  
• How to report 419 spam to us
• 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.

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:
  • "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
• 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.
  • giroverificatie@netscape.net (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: agnes@agneszwerus0.orangehome.co.uk
Date: Mon, 22 Jan 2007 15:36:39 +0100 (CET)
Subject: YOUR EMAIL HAVE WON!!! CONTACT THE OFFICE


YOUR EMAIL HAVE WON!!! CONTACT THE OFFICE
REFERENCE NUMBER: 428/70/NUL
BATCH NUMBER: 24/5766/HGM
LUCKY NUMBERS: 52-6-39-15-36-1
SERIAL NUMBER: 2197/03
FINAL NOTIFICATION!!!!!
Attn Winner,
We are happy to inform you that you have emerged a winner under the
First Category,BankGiro International Promotion. The draws were officially announced this day 20th of January,2007.Participants were selected through acomputer ballot system drawn from 2,500,000 email addresses of individuals world wide.You have therefore been approved for a lump sum pay out of ?1,000,000.00 (One Million Euros ). In your best interest to avoid Disqualification we request that you keep the entire details of your award strictly from public notice until the process of transferring your claims has been completed, and your funds remitted to your account.This is part of our security protocol to avoid double claiming or unscrupulous acts by non winners of this program.You are advised to contact claim department by email.Failure to do so may warrant
disqualification. Please note that you will be required to pay for the issurance of your legal back up legalization/notarization document in court. When contacting your claims agent, you are to provide them with :Your full name and address :Your contact telephone number: Your winning numbers en Batch Nr.
Please contact department immediately for due processing and
remittance of your prize money to a designated account of your choice:
**********************************************************************
CLAIMS PROCESSING OFFICER.
Mr. CEE JAN WILLIAM
TEL:0031-649-304-015
FAX:0031-206-006-898
EMAIL TO: giroverificatie@netscape.net

***************************************************************
Sincerely Yours,
Mevrouw Anges Zwerus.
Promotions Manager
BankGiro lottery
N.B: Any breach of confidentiality on the part of the winners will result to disqualification. Contact your claim department immediately.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam