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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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• What can you do when you receive 419 spam
  
  
• Spam archive, Daily index
  

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:

• 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: "Gary lampard" <medalstonegames@hotmail.com>
Date: Fri, 01 Jun 2007 06:54:11 +0000
Subject: Re:RE:Your Lotto Winnings

Dear Winifride Kirschst,

The MEDAL STONE GAMES LOTTERY Awards is proudly sponsored by Financial
Corp's, the royal group and a conglomeration Of other international IT
companies. MEDAL STONE GAMES LOTTERY Internet draw is held monthly, and is
organized to Encourage the use of the Internet and computers Worldwide. We
are proud to say that over 200 Million Pounds are won annually in more than
150 countries Worldwide

The third category draws of MEDAL STONE GAMES LOTTERY is a promotional draw,
whereby participants do not have to buy tickets to formally enter into the
draws, about 5,000,000 international and local emails were selected randomly
by a computer ballot system and entered into the draws, you consequently
emerged as one of the 3 winners in this category, This entitles you to a
cash prize of £2,000,000.00. Congratulations once again on behalf of members
and staff of the MEDAL STONE GAMES LOTTERY.

Your claims process will take about a 4 to 5 working days if all
requirements are met. You are required to provide me with your contact
details i.e telephone number and your mailing address so that I can get in
touch with you.


Sincerely,
Mr. Frank Johnson
Promotions Manager

_________________________________________________________________
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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam