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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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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!
• 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.
  • +447024076942 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: eurolottery3@comcast.net (EUROPEAN PRIZE AWARD)
Date: Thu, 06 Sep 2007 11:44:00 +0000
Subject: Official Information

EUROPEAN PRIZE AWARD DEPT
The Lottery Company
P.O. BOX 1764
VICTORIA SW1V 4DP
********************
Ref: UKLT/245512568021/07
Batch: 5368/02/07
********************

YOU HAVE WON 870,000.00 POUNDS STERLING

Our Dear Winner,

You have won the sum of 870,000.00 (EIGHT HUNDRED AND SEVENTY
THOUSAND,POUNDS STERLING ) from the EUROPEAN PRIZE AWARD DEPT
on our 2007 charity bonanza.

The winning ticket was selected from a Data Base of Internet Email
Users,from which your Address came out as the winning coupon.

We hereby urge you to claim the winning amount quickly as this is a
monthly lottery. Failure to claim your win will result into the
reversion of the fund to our following month.

You are therefore requested to contact immediately our Claims
Department below quoting winning number:

WINNING NUMBER::(13)-(43)-(06)-(15)-(02)-(40)bonus
# (09).

Mr.David Oneil
Email: europeandepts@promotionmanager-online.com
Tel: +447024076942
+447045707759
You are required to quote your winning number while contacting the
claims Dept.

Regards,
Susan Hills
Claims Department.
EUROPEAN PRIZE AWARD DEPT

--

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam