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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:

• 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:
  • "into your nominated bank account" (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!
• 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.
  • virginmail@inbox.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "V.I.G" <mail@virginvestment.com>
Date: Thu, 12 Apr 2007 19:20:30 +0000
Subject: Contact Us




Dear Winner,
WINNING FINAL NOTIFICATION
We are officially informing you of the result of the Lottery Winners International programs in association with Virgin Group held on the 11th of April, 2007 as part of our promotional programs for the year 2007. Your e-mail address attached to
Ticket number 77007742781005-18721 with Reference number 414-3721060 Drew winning numbers 7-00-71-00-66-49 and credited to batch number 121cfc, which consequently won in the 3rd category via our electronic ticket as stated above. You have therefore been approved for a pay out of £536,000.00 (Five Hundred And Thirty-six Thousand Pounds only).This is from a total cash prize of £19,468,770.000(NINETEEN MILLION, FOUR HUNDRED AND SIXTY EIGHT THOUSAND, SEVEN HUNDRED AND SEVENTY POUNDS ONLY) Shared among the seventeen international winners in the category I & 3.
CONGRATULATIONS!!!
Total funds have now been deposited and insured with our affiliate security firm (Bank) for transfer into your nominated bank account either by means of wire transfers through any of our correspondent banks or any other means suitable to you. We also advice that you keep your winning information very confidential as our security policy demands to avoid
double claims/impersonation and unwarranted abuse of this program by some individuals.All participants were selected through a random computer ballot system drawn from over 800,000 company and 1,000,000 individual email addresses and names from all over the world. This promotional program takes place annually and we hope with part of your winning you will take part in our next year £20 Million Pounds International Lottery.
To file for your claim, you will be contacting our Verification Department authorized to verify and process your claims for your total payment (You will receive more information upon your acknowledgment of this email).
To file for your claim, please contact our Verification Dept:

Ms.Kelly Stone
Reply Email: virginmail@inbox.com

This lottery is promoted and sponsored by software corporations and other private organizations to help individuals generate fortunes which would encourage them to expand their business frontiers thereby creating more opportunities and assisting with humanitarian concerns within their immediate environment. Please Note that winnings must be claimed not later than 27th of April, 2007. After this date all unclaimed funds will be included in our subsequent program coming up later in 2007. In order to avoid complications always quote your reference number in all correspondence.
Furthermore, should there be any change of address do inform us as soon as possible. Congratulations from our organization and thank you for being part of our promotional program.
NOTE:
(1) Anybody under the age of 18 is automatically disqualified from this
Program.
(2) To file for your claim, please contact our Verification Department:
Ms.Kelly Stone Email: virginmail@inbox.com

Sincerely yours,
Ms. Nicole Grant
Programs & Events coordinator
(Virgin Investment Group)
Email: virginmail@inbox.com

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam