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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:

• An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
• 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)
  • "top secret" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a scam)
• 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.
  • ptr_briggs@excite.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: langalbert8@zipmail.com.br
Date: Thu, 27 Dec 2007 19:20:21 +0800
Subject: =?iso-8859-1?Q?YOUR=20REF=20NO=3A=20CIL/348/5224/8512?=

CHINA INTERNATIONAL LOTTERY.
TICKET NO: 98566254142255
REF NO: CIL/348/5224/8512
BATCH NO: 388906882-wxbnB64
CHINA.

We happily announce to you the Draw (06/1096) of the CHINA INTERNATIONAL
LOTTERY, online China International Lottery program.
Your e-mail address attached to Ticket Number: 98566254142255 with Serial
number 546/257 drew the Winning Numbers:05,11,20,24,39,49(bonus no.),which
subsequently won you the lottery in the 2nd category.

You have therefore been approved to claim total sum of US$1,600,000(One
Million Six Hundred Thousand United States Dollars) in cash credited to
file ktu/9023118308/03.

All participants for the online version were selected randomly from World
Wide Websites through computer draw system and extracted from over 100,000
unions, associations, and corporate bodies that are listed online.
This is a promotion to mark the end of the year in which no tickets were
sold.

we ask that you keep this award top secret from public notice until your
claim has been processed as this is part of our security protocol to avoid
double claiming or unwarranted taking of advantage of this program by participants.

You are to contact the claims department by e-mail;
Name: Mr. Peter Briggs
Tel No: 0086-20-32658563
E-mail:ptr_briggs@excite.com
Confirm to him the below details for documentation you can also call him.

Full name:
Country:
Contact:
Address:
Age:
Sex:
Occupation:

Congratulations once again from all our staff for being a part of our promotions
program.
Mr. Lang Albert.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam