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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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• 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:

• 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:
  • "million 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)
  • ",000,000" (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 mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
  • +31610698963 (Netherlands, prepaid mobile phone)
• 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.
  • ecoworldinter2@aim.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: net promotiom <exploratenet6@hotmail.com>
Date: Fri, 6 Jul 2007 16:30:30 +0200
Subject: Claim Ticket Number:ACL 2315620015478



Claim Ticket Number:ACL 2315620015478 Dear Winner, We wish to inform you of the Yearly sweepstakes program that your Email Addresshas won: the award sum of (US$ 1,000,000.00) One Million Dollars only from Staat/lottery promotion. sponsored by the INTERNET EXPLORATION to encourage internet users. Please contact the Agency below for your Claim:*****************************************************Name: FOR DR.LUKE DAVIES (DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS).ECOWORLD WIDE INTERNATIONAL AGENCY BV.Email: ecoworldinter2@aim.com ecoworldinter2@myway.comTEL: +31-610-698-963.******************************************************You are also advice to provide the following information:
Names:Telephone/Fax number:Ticket And Batch Number:Ref Number: AC/REF4121100, Ticket Number:ACL 2315620015478, serial NumberAC45GM457825, Lucky Numbers: 57-23-56-10-02-57, Batch Number: VNFL/2986542754/AAF, The email lottery draws was conducted from an exclusive list of 980,000.000 e-mail addresses of individual, companies,and corporate bodies Picked by an advanced automated random computer search ballot system from The Internet. Once again congratulations! Yours faithfully,Mrs. Morgan WilliamsFor Claims Manager
_________________________________________________________________
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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam