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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:

• 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")
  • "hundred thousand united states 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)
• 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.
  • +31626625511 (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.
  • slclaimsagent@aol.com

Fraud email example:

From: "Marry Van Pepple" <international_prize08@yahoo.dk>
Date: Fri, 31 Aug 2007 06:21:29 +1200
Subject: your E-mail address emerged as a winner in the category "A" Contact your agent.

FROM THE DESK OF THE DIRECTOR INTERNATIONAL WORLDWIDE INTERNET USER LOTTERY
PRIZE AWARD DEPT.

Dear Internet User,

YOUR WINNING NOTIFICATION FOR USING THE INTERNET.

I am pleased to inform you that one of the best things that can happen
to any Internet user is to be rewarded for spending money
and time on the Internet. You may not have known that over one hundred
billion people daily surf the Internet on regular basis for
one reason or other. These Internet users including yourself, pay access
fees to various Internet Service Providers (ISP) all
over the word who in turn remit surfplus funds to the numerous World Wide
Internet Technology Companies (WWITC) for the
development and advancement of Global Information Technology.

So much money is generated from people like you all over the World for
using the Information Superhighway (the Internet)
without your being aware the enormous sum that go to the stake holders
(WWWITC).
Without your patronage, this would not have been possible. After we
conducted a research
on the issue, we concluded that Internet users should be compensated. As a
result, we embarked on a worldwide lottery promotion
with a sophisticated automated database to randomly select E-mail accounts
that frequently surf the Internet. Consequent
upon this, your E-mail address was picked for Category “A” Winners.

After the automated computer ballot, your E-mail address emerged as a
winner in the category "A" with the following numbers
attached Ref Number: PW EH 9290 OG 0617,Batch Number: PA 346601545-NL/2007

You and other category “A” winners are therefore to receive a cash prize of
Two Million Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars
($2,5000,000.00) respectively from the total payout of One Billion US
Dollars earmarked in the lottery for category “A” winners.
Your prize award has been insured with your E-mail address, which qualified
you for the lottery and will be transferred to you upon
meeting our requirements, statutory obligations, verifications, validations
and satisfactory proof of E-mail address
ownership.

To file in for the processing of your money, you are advised to contact our
certified and accredited claims agent for category "A"
winners with the information below:

CLAIMS AGENT.
Mr.David Cole.
Phone: +31-626-625-511
Fax : +31-847 -147 -474.
Email: SLclaimsaGENT@aol.com

You will provide him with the following information:

First name:
Last Name:
Telephone/Fax number:
Nationality:
Age:
Occupation:
NOTE: All winnings must be claimed not later than 14 days, thereafter
unclaimed funds would be forfeited after a trio repeated
forwarding of this message to you without your response. Remember to quote
your reference information in all correspondence.
(Ref No: PW EH 9290 OG 0617, Batch No: PA 346601545-NL/2007),

You are to keep all lotto information confidential, especially your
reference numbers and the password of your E-mail
address. Since we do not know you, if an impostor hacks your E-mail account
ID and claims your money without our knowledge, we
shall not be liable. Double claims will not be entertained so be careful.
Furthermore, should there be any change of address do
inform our agent as soon as possible.

Congratulations! Thank you for being a user of the World Wide Web.


Yours Faithfully,
Marry Van Pepple.
Lottery Coordinator.
Thank you and
congratulations!!!

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam