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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
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• Phone numbers used by 419 scammers
  (+225 +229 +234 +27 +31 +32 +34 +44 other)
• Company names mentioned in 419 spam:
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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 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.
  • peterjonesqqx@yahoo.co.uk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "PAYMENT OFFICE" <paymentoffice20@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 13 Feb 2007 08:27:42 -0800
Subject: OVERSEAS LOTTERY INTERNATIONAL


*OVERSEAS LOTTERY INTERNATIONAL
12, BRIDGE STREET, STAINES MIDDLESEX TW18 LONODON.
REF NUMBER: OSL/653/029/03
BATCH NUMBER: AT-040-SB06-03
Dear winner,
We are delighted to informed you that as a result of our recent lotterydraw
held on 06/01/07, your email address was attached to ticket
number27522465896-532 with serial number 652-662 drew lucky numbers
7-14-18-23-31-45 which consequently won in the first category which is the
first quarter payment of the year 2007. You have therefore been approved
for a lump sum pay out of 500, 000.00pounds (FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND POUNDS).*

*Note that All participants inthis lottery program have been selected
randomly through a computerballot system drawn from over 11 companies and 72
individual email addresses from all search engines and
websites.Thispromotional program takes place twice every year, it is
promotedand
sponsored by eminent personalities like the Sultan of Brunei, BillGates of
Microsoft inc and other corporate organizations. This is toencourage the use
of the Internet and computers worldwide. For security purpose and clarity,
we advise that you keep your winninginformation confidential until your
claims have been processed and your money remitted to you. This is part of
our security protocol to avoid impersonation of making a wrong payment and
unwarranted abuse of this program by some participants.

You are requested to contact our payment department officer below to assist
you with your winnings and subsequent payments.All winnings must be claimed
not later than three weeks (21 days) After the date of this notice all
unclaimed winning prize shall be canceled. Please Note, in order to avoid
unnecessary delays and complications, remember
to quote your reference number and batch numbers in all correspondence.

Furthermore,if there should be any change of address do not hesitate to
inform the payment officer as soon as possible.

Contact Person: PETER JONES.
Payment Department Officer,
Overseas Lottery Int'l.
E-mail **peterjonesqqx@yahoo.co.uk* <peterjonesqqx@yahoo.co.uk>

*LOTTERY WINNERS APPLICATION FORM OF PAYMENT. THIS FORM SHOULD BE FILL
CORRECTLY BY THE BENEFICIARY OF THE SAID WINNING PRIZE AND FORWARD OR FAX TO
OUR PAYMENT DEPARTMENT FORVERIFICATION BEFORE PAYMENT.
TITLE............................................................
FIRST NAME..................................................
LAST NAME...................................................
REFERENCE NUMBER......................................
BATCH NUMBER.............................................
CONTACT ADDRESS.......................................
EMAIL ADDRESS............................................
DATE AND PLACE OF BIRTH............................
TEL NO.....................FAX NO...........................
NEXT OF KIN...................................................
ADDRESS OF NEXT OF KIN...............................
NAME OF EMPLOYER.......................................
ADDRESS OF EMPLOYER.................................
OCCUPATION..................................................
MARITAL STATUS...........................................
DECLARATION:
I...............................HEREBY DECLARE THAT THE ABOVE
INFORMATION ARE TRUE AND BINDING ON ME.IF AT ANY TIME IT IS
DISCOVERED THAT I HAVE GIVEN ANY FALSE INFORMATION,I WILL FORFEIT MY RIGHTS
TO MY WINNINGS.
FULL NAME............................. DATE....................
CONGRATULATIONS.
Sincerely,
JOHN SMITH
(LOTTERY COORDINATOR)*


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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam