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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:

• The following fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
  • "inter continental alliance finance & securities"
• 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.
  • +31610069066 (Netherlands, prepaid mobile phone)

Fraud email example:

From: Winx Lotto International Programme <winxdraws01@aol.com>
Date: Fri, 9 Feb 2007 03:34:47 +0100
Subject: CONTACT THE ACCOUNTS DEPARTMENT

CONTACT THE ACCOUNT DEPARTMENT
WINX LOTTO INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS/
PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT.

RESULTS FOR CATEGORY "A" DRAWS

We are pleased to congratulate you, and announce to you,
the results of the First Category draw of THE WINX LOTTO
PROMO INT. We are happy to inform you that you
have emerged a winner under the First Category, which
is part of our promotional draws. The draws are being
officially announced today 7th of February 2007. Participants
were selected through a computer ballot system drawn from
2,500,000 e-mails addresses of individuals and companies
from Africa, America, Asia, Australia, Europe, Middle East,
and Oceania as part of our International Promotions Program.
Your e-mail address, attached to ticket number 78432092150,
with prize number 59918/UK, which consequently won in the
First Category. You have been awarded a lump sum pay-out of
€1,000,000 (One Million Euros), which is the winning payout
for Category "A" winners. This is from a total cash prize of
€10,000,000.00 (Ten Million Euros) shared amongst the first
Ten (10) lucky winners in this category.

CONGRATULATIONS!

Your fund is currently now deposited with the paying Bank.
In your best interest to avoid mix up of numbers and names
of any kind, we request that you keep the entire details of
your award strictly from public notice till the process of
transferring your claims has been completed, and your funds
remitted to you.

This is part of our security protocol to avoid double claiming
or unscrupulous acts by participants/non-participants of this
program. Please contact our paying bank (Inter Continental Alliance
Finance & Securities) immediately for due processing and remittance
of your prize money to a designated account of your choice:
NOTE: For easy reference and identification, do remember to quote
these numbers in your correspondence with your paying bank:
To claim your funds, please contact the paying bank.
*************************************************
Contact person: Mr. John Kane,
(International Remittance Department).
Email: winxdraws1@infowinx.com
Tel: +31-610-069-066
Fax: +31-847-292-338
*************************************************
N.B: All claims are nullified after 20 working days from today.
Congratulations once again from all members of Winx
Lotto International. Thank you for being part of our
promotional program.

Yours in service,
Mr. Roy Kostas.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam