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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.

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:
  • "claim 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 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.
  • +31622525068 (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.
  • aimagencybv@aim.com
  • aimservicebv@mail.lawguru.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: houkes@houkes.orangehome.co.uk
Date: Sat, 27 Jan 2007 14:38:11 +0100 (CET)
Subject: FROM: MRS. JANE VERDONK


FROM: MRS. JANE VERDONK
HOUKES LOTTERY ONLINE.
LOTTERY AND GAMING CORPORATION,
THE NETHERLANDS
WINNING NUMBER: ANL/DGS/06315369
BATCH/SERIAL NO: 0009/WEU-7552
DEAR WINNER,
CONGRATULATIONS! WE ARE PLEASED TO INFORM YOU OF THE RESULT OF THE JUST CONCLUDED ANNUAL FINAL DRAWS OF BANK GIRO LOTERIJ WINNERS INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS.THE ONLINE CYBER LOTTO DRAWS WAS CONDUCTED FROM AN EXCLUSIVE LIST OF OVER 20MILLION INDIVIDUAL EMAIL ADDRESSES, WHICH WERE PICKED BY AN ADVANCED AUTOMATED RANDOM COMPUTER SYSTEM.
YOU WERE THEREFORE, SELECTED AS THE PRIZE WINNER OF THE SUM OF EUR.250,000 (TWO HUNDRED AND FIFITY THOUSAND EURO) BY THE BANK GIRO LOTTERY AND GAMING CORPORATION. THE WINNING EMAIL ADDRESS WAS SELECTED FROM A DATA BASE OF INTERNET E-MAIL USERS AND ADDRESSES, FROM WHICH YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS CAME OUT AS THE WINNING COUPON.
WE THEREBY CONTACT YOU TO CLAIM YOUR WINNING AMOUNT QUICKLY AS FAILURE TO CLAIM YOUR WINNING WILL RESULT INTO THE REVERSION OF THE WINNING SUM TO OUR FOLLOWING YEAR. PLEASE CONTACT YOUR APPROVED AGENT FOR YOUR REGION WITH YOUR WINNING NUMBER AND TELEPHONE CONTACT NOW (EXPIRING DATE, 10TH FEBRUARY, 2007). BELOW IS YOUR CLAIM AGENT:
JANE VERDONK(DIRECTOR OF CLAIM)
HOUKES CONSULTS
SPUISTRAAT 104, AMSTERDAM
E-MAIL: aimagencybv@aim.com
E-MAIL: aimservicebv@mail.lawguru.com
TEL: +31 62 252 5068
FAX: +31 84 723 1270

REGARDS,
MRS. JANE VERDONK.
FOR: HOUKES AGENCY.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam