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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 phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "tax clearance" (this will cost you money - that's what the scam is about)
• 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!

Fraud email example:

From: Maureen Jefferson <paymentclaims_unit@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Mon, 7 May 2007 19:40:06 +0100 (BST)
Subject: RE:SKM/7405/66/12


STRIKER MILLION PROMOTION
Monmouth House
40 Artillery Lane,London,E1 7LS

Dear Winner,
How are you today?I must congratulate you first on your lucky winnings of 2,000,000.00 GBP.This lottery is a conjoined effort of Microsoft international and the United Nations under the auspices of STRIKER MILLION LOTTERY PROMOTIONS.This lottery is aimed at promoting world peace and the use of Internet across the world. Participants were drawn randomly from the Internet upon which a raffle draw was conducted and lucky winners emerged fortuitously. The payment process is simple and easy to complete.
To facilitate the swift procurement of your winning, you are to fill out the required details and return it within 24-72hrs to enable us open a payment file on your behalf.
Please do note that The lottery company, The British Lottery Board and The British Government entered an agreement on foreign winner of any Kind, regarding the prize is associate with Money, that the beneficiary must have to come to London to clear and sign the Hard copy of the British Tax clearance papers from the Inland revenue and Security Home.This is a policy that must be honoured.
We shall appoint an attorney from our company attorneys to stand for you to attest and legally clear all legitimate documents for the release of your money to you, this is in case you can not make it over, but we encourage all winners to come.
Below are the details for processing your payment
REQUIRED DETAILS.
FIRST NAME…………………………
LAST NAME…………………………
MARITAL STATUS…………………
AGE……………………………………
SEX……………………………………
COUNTRY……………………………
NATIONALITY………………………
OCCUPATION………………………
ADDRESS…………………………
TELEPHONE NO………………………
FAX NO………………………………
NEXT OF KIN………………………

Do have a nice day and congratulations once again, you are free to keep me informed on any thing not clear to your understanding.
Good Luck.
Yours sincerely
Mrs. Maureen Jefferson

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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam