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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
• Support our efforts to stop scams!
  
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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:

• 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:
  • "from the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • ",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)
  • "you are advice to " (this email uses bad English)
• 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.
  • +31649304315 (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.
  • nvlottobv@aim.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
  • bvlottonl2006@yahoo.de (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "PRIZEAWARD" <prizeawardnl1@walla.com>
Date: Wed, 22 Aug 2007 23:55:17 -1100
Subject: YOU WON

FROM THE DESK OF THE DIRECTOR PRIZE AWARD DEPT
INTERNATIONAL PRIZE AWARD DEPT
WINNING INFORMATIONS:

REF Number: RQA/231-ILGI0431/07
BATCH No: UOS/15/096/IVNL
TICKET No:20511465463-7655
SERIAL No:472-9768-79
LUCKY No:8-66-97-22-65-5

Amount Won: 1,000,000.00 Dollars

The online cyber lotto draws was conducted from an exclusive list of
25,000,000 e-mail addresses of individual and corporate bodies picked
by an advance dautomated random computer search from the internet. No
tickets were sold.

To file in for the processing of your prize winnings, you are advised to
contact our Certified and Accredited claims agent for category
"A"winners with the information below:
***************************************************
Name: Mr. Peter Coppens
Tel: +31-649-304-315
Fax: +31 847 254 686
Email:nvlottobv@aim.com
Email:bvlottonl2006@yahoo.de
http//www.europw.com
****************************************************
You are advice to pro vide him with the following information and a copy of
your international passport or driver's license via email attachment
or by fax for vetting process which is a standard practice just to ensure
that we are dealing with the right individual.

1. FULL NAMES:
2. ADDRESS:
3. NATIONALITY:
4. TEL/FAX NUMBERS:
6. SEX:
7. AGE:
8. OCCUPATION:

Sincerely yours,
Mrs Susan Jones
Lottery Coordinator

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam