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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:
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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 phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "million 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)
  • "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!
• Western Union money transfer is completely untraceable and therefore is *not* safe to use with anyone you do not know personally. It is the preferred method of online criminals to collect money from their victims.
• 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.
  • christpaul@winning.com
  • agentchristpaul@aim.com
  • agentchristpaul@yahoo.es

Fraud email example:

From: Bingo Easter Prize Award<easterbonanza@bingo.com>
Date: Wed, 4 Apr 2007 12:58:09 GMT
Subject: claim your prize


BINGO ONLINE PROMOTIONS
Via Volturno 17
50019 ,Sesto Fiorentino, Florence, Italy.
2007 EASTER LOTTERY RESULTS DRAWINGS/NOTIFICATION.

Promoter: Microsoft=AE , Western Union
Draw# 3243 SATURDAY,31ST MARCH 2007


RESULT CONFIRMATION MLTT/MTU/2007WTN FOR REF. NUMBER BLMCS/365OXI/07.

Congratulations! You are among the ten (10) randonly selected for the
EASTER LOTTERY PROMOTION held in Florence, Italy. Selection was
made using special software to generate valid email addresses and custome=
r
names from western union database world wide at
random from over 40,000 company and 20,000,000 individual email
addresses from all over the world.Your name/ e-mail address attached to
ticket number 522564/WUMCSBL with serial number 5388/07, batch number
12L/2005/04, lottery ref number BLMCS/365OXI/07 and drew lucky numbers:
03, 07, 15, 38, 43, 47 and bonus ball 18 which subsequently won you
the lottery in the 2nd category i.e match 5 plus bonus.Apparently, 10
individual email addresses were selected to recieved from a total cash
prize of 5 million United States Dollars. You have therefore been approve=
d for the
total sum of 500,000 (five hundred thousand united states dollars) .
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
Claims Requirement:
1.Name in full:
2.Address in full:
3.Nationality:
4.Age:
5.Sex:
6.Occupation:
7.Phone/Fax:
8.Mobile Number:
9.Country of resident:
10.Email Address:
11.Alternative Email Address (Needed):
12.Mode Of Payment (Mark X for Preffered Method)
(a)Bank Wire Transfer ( )
(b)Cheque Delivery ( )

CLAIMS AGENT
Mr. Christ Paul,
E-Mail:christpaul@winning.com
agentchristpaul@aim.com
agentchristpaul@yahoo.es
Phone: + 39 340 811 77 23
Fax: + 39 055 537 1084

Contact your claims agent immediately with the above claims requirement.

Remember that all winning in this second category must be claimed not
later than 15th of May 2007. Please note in order to avoid
unnecessary delays and complications please remember to quote your
reference number and batch numbers in all correspondence.

Anybody under the age of 18 is automatically disqualified.

Yours Sincerely,
MRS. SONIA LARRY,
easterbonanza@bingo.com
EASTER DRAWS COORDINATOR
____________________________________________________________________
Copyright =A92007 Bingo Lottery Promotions. All rights reserved

NEVER SEND SPAM. IT IS BAD.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam