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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!
  
• How to report 419 spam to us
• 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:

• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "claim agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "your urgent reply" (they are rushing you so you don't have time to think properly)
• 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!

Fraud email example:

From: "EURO MILLIONS LONDON, UK." <claimagent_euromillion@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2007 11:08:52 +0100 (BST)
Subject: HOW ARE YOU


Attn: Garrin Brand,

how are today l want you to know that we understand what you are talking about but if you must know EURO MILLIONS LOTTERY is a world wide lottery that can never do what you are thinking so l give you my world as your claim agent l did sent you my I D CARD for you to know who I am and l do hope you have it so all you need do is act as the bank accordingly with the bank and you will have your winnings for as long as l know the bank will give you access to your account and you will have your won funds transferred to you desired account by yourself as long as you work hand to hand with them ok

l will be sending you a copy of your winning certificate in my next email of which will be sent to you via courier after you must have transferred your won funds from our pay out bank.

N.B. I need you to contact the bank and ask them the procedure to make in claiming your won funds and get back to me.

I await your urgent reply


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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam