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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
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• 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:

• 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 fondazione" (not involved with lotteries)
  • "vittorio foundation" (not involved with lotteries)
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "please endeavor to " (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • "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)
  • "00,000.00" (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!

Fraud email example:

From: gregory johnson <grgryjohnson@yahoo.com>
Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2008 19:21:18 -0800 (PST)
Subject: RE: I recieved the folllowing e-mail

VITTORIO FONDAZIONE.
Corso Ercole I d'Este 44,
Ferrara 44100 - Italy.
Foundation's Officer,
Fondazion Di Vittorio, ITALY
http://www.fondazionedivittorio.it

The Foundazion di Vittorio, 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, educational, and business
development.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. To celebrate the 28th
anniversary program,The Vittorio Foundation in conjunction with the
Economic Community for West
African States (ECOWAS), United Nations Organization (UNO) and the
European Union (EU) is giving out a yearly donation of $500,000.00 US
Dollar(Five hundred thousand United States Dollars) to 100 lucky
recipients. Based on the random selection exercise of internet websites
and millions of supermarket cash invoices world wide, you were selected
among the lucky recipients to receive the award sum of$500,000.00US
Dollar(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. (Note that all
beneficiaries email addresses were selected randomly from over 100,000
internet websites or a shop's cash invoice around your area in which you
might have purchased something from). You are required to fill the form
below and mail it to our Executive Secretary below for qualification
documentation and processing of your claims. After contacting our office
with the requested data, you will be given your donation pin number,which
you will use in collecting the funds.Please endeavor to quote your
Qualification numbers (N-222-6747,E-900-56) in all discussions.

FULLNAMES:
ADDRESS:STATE:
ZIP:
COUNTRY:
SEX:
AGE:
OCCUPATION:
TELEPHONE NUMBER:

Executive Secretary- Fabio Giovanni
Email: fabiogiovanni@live.com

Mrs. Sparo Malcom.
Corso Ercole I d'Este 44, Ferrara...
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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam