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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.

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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!

Fraud email example:

From: YOU ARE A WINNER!!! <santalucia_info@yahoo.es>
Date: Mon, 17 Sep 2007 21:58:57 +0200
Subject: YOU ARE A WINNER!!!



WINNING NOTIFICATION:
We happily announce to you the draw (#1004) of the IRISH LOTTERY online =
Sweepstakes International program held on 26th of May 2007. It is now =
available for claims and you are getting the final NOTIFICATION as regards =
this.Your e-mail address attached to ticket number: 56475600545 188 with =
Serial number 5368/02 drew the lucky numbers: 05, 06, 17, 20, 28, 42 ( Bonus =
33) , which subsequently won you the lottery in the 1st category i.e match 5 =
plus bonus.
You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of =801. Million =
Pounds,(one million,Pounds) in cash credited to file KTU/90

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam