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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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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:
  • "please endeavor to " (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • "(ecowas)" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
• 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.
  • fdfmralfredlina@yahoo.co.uk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: =?us-ascii?Q?TOYOTA=20COMPANY=20UK?= <PepeFe@seznam.cz>
Date: Mon, 27 Aug 2007 18:58:22 +0200 (CEST)
Subject: =?us-ascii?Q?CONGRATULATIONS=21=21=21=20=28YOU=20HAVE=20BE=20WON=29?=

THE FONDATION DE FRANCE(FDF)
http://www.fdf.org

The Fondation De France(FDF) would like to notify you that you have been chosenby the board of trustees as one of the final recipients of a cash Grant/Donation for your own personal, educational, and business development.

The FDF, established 1977 by the Multi-Million groups and now supported
by the Economic Community for West African States (ECOWAS), United Nations Organization (UNO) and the European Union (EU) was conceived with the objective of human growth, educational, and community development.

In conjunction with the ECOWAS, UNO and the EU, We are giving out a
yearly donation of US$1,350,000.00 (One Million, Three Hundred And Fifty Thousand United States Dollars) each to 100 lucky recipients.These specific Donations/Grants will be awarded to 100 lucky international recipients worldwide; in different categories for their personal business development and enhancement of their educational plans. This is a yearly program, which is a measure of universal development strategy.

You are required to contact the Executive Secretary below, for qualification documentation and processing of your claims. After contacting our office,you will be given your donation pin number, which you will use in collecting the funds. Please endeavor to quote your Qualification numbers (FDF-444-6647-9163) in all discussions.

Executive Sec. Mrs. Alfred Lina
Email: fdfmralfredlina@yahoo.co.uk

You are by all means hereby advised to keep this whole information
confidential until you have been able to collect your donation, as there have been many cases of double and unqualified claim, due to beneficiaries informing third parties about his/her donation.

Regards.
Mrs. Maria Riccardo
(Foundation officer)

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam