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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:

• 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:
  • "lottery winners international e-mail programs" (no such lottery exists)
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "fiduciary agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "foreign service manager" (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)
  • ",000,000" (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)
• 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.
  • +447024024410 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
• 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.
  • greglouisconsul@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: Ceacilia_Lloyd@ecunet.org (may be fake)
Date: Sat, 5 Jan 2008 06:38:32 -0600
Subject: New Year Lotto Bonanza

New Year Lotto Bonanza
The British Hotball Lotto
11 Claughton Firs,Prenton CH43 5TG
Liverpool United Kingdom
REFERENCE #:87/825/TRH
BATCH #: MEG-749-873-439

Sir/Madam,

Being officially assigned to select winners across the globe, the
management is pleased to inform you of the result of the Hot Lotto GBP
millions British Lottery Winners International E-mail programs held on the
26th December, 2007 and result where release on the 4th January 2008.
Your E-mail address attached to ticket number 653-908-321-675 with
serial main number 528-127-196 drew lucky star numbers 25-78-54-36-49
which consequently won in the 2nd category, you have therefore been
approved for a lump sum pay out of GBP1.500.000.00 Pounds, with REFERENCE
#:87/825/TRH and BATCH #: MEG-749-873-439.

Due to mix up of some numbers and names, we ask that you keep your
winning information confidential until your claims have been processed and
your money remitted to you. This is part of our security protocol to
avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program by some
participants. All participants were selected through a computer ballot
system drawn from over 100,000 company and 50,000,000 individual email
addresses and names from all over the world.

This lottery was promoted and sponsored by Software Companies in order
to enhance and promote the use of Internet Explorer Users and
Microsoft-wares around the globe.

To file for your claim, please contact our fiduciary agent:
Mr Louis E. Greg
email:greglouisconsul@gmail.com
Tel: +44 702 402 4410
Fax: +44 709 287 2619
Foreign Service Manager

Congratulations once more from our members of staff and thank you for
being part of our promotional program.

Sincerely,
Mrs. Caecilia D. Lloyd.
International Online Co-coordinator

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam