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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
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• Phone numbers used by 419 scammers
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• 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 fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
  • "fondazione di vittorio" (not involved with lotteries)
  • "vittorio foundation" (not involved with lotteries)
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "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)
  • "(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.
  • angelaparlo0@yahoo.it (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: mmrccarlosg@mchsi.com
Date: Sat, 29 Sep 2007 09:11:04 +0000
Subject: To whom it may concern.

To whom it may concern.

We would like to notify you that you have been chosen by the board of trustees
as one of the final recipients of a cash Grant/Donation for your own personal
development, educational, and business development organized by The Fondazione
Di Vittorio.

The Fondazione Di Vittorio, 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. At
least 15% of the awarded funds should be used by you to develop a part of your
environment. This is a yearly program, which is a measure of universal
development strategy.

Based on the random selection exercise of internet websites and millions of
supermarket cash invoices worldwide, you were selected among the lucky
recipients to receive the award sum of US$500,000 (Five Hundred Thousand
United States Dollars) as charity donations/aid from the Vittorio Foundation,
ECOWAS, EU and the UNO in accordance with the enabling act of Parliament.

For further details and information on how to receive your grant, Please
contact the Executive Secretary

Executive Secretary
Mrs.Angela Parrinelo
Email: angelaparlo0@yahoo.it


Good Luck

Mr. Carlos Gianlucci.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam