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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

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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:

• 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)
  • "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!
• 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.
  • +447045741232 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: "Fondazione Di Vittorio, ECOWAS" <fdv@fondazionedivittorioecowas.firm.org.uk>
Date: Sat, 23 Feb 2008 00:25:47 -1200
Subject: URGENT NOTIFICATION!!!








Fondazione Di Vittorio, Economic Community For West Africa
States.(ECOWAS)

http://www.fondazionedivittorio.it

fdv@fondazionedivittorioecowas.firm.org.uk

Date:23-02-2008

BATCH NO: (N-222-6747,E-900-56)




Congratulations as we bring to your notice! The Foundazion
di Vittorio has chosen you by the board of trustees as one
of the final recipients of a cash Grant/Donation for your
own personal, educational, and business development. To
celebrate the 30th anniversary and the end of year program .
We are giving out a yearly donation of US$500,000.00 (Five
Hundred Thousand United States Dollars) to 20 lucky
recipients, as charity donations/aid from the Vittorio
Foundation, ECOWAS, EU and the UNO in accordance with the
enabling act of Parliament, You email was randomly
selected on the internet and you were among the 20 lucky
recipients this year,which is part of our promotion.

To file for your claim. you are to fill out below
information and send it to the Payment Remitance Office Via
their email contact address:

Full Name:
Residential Address:
Occupation:
Country:
Telephone:
Fax Number:
Sex:
Age:
Next of Kin:
Winning Batch No:

After the form understated been fill, you are to forwarded
it to the payment remitance office in United Kingdom. Below
their contact information so as to speed up the processing
of your claim as soon as possible. You are to contact the
Remitant Officer via phone for more information

(Payment Remitance Contact)
Mr John Slaughter
E-Mail: fdv@fondazionedivittorioecowas.firm.org.uk
Tel: +44 704 574 1232

Also in order to avoid unnecessary delays and
complications, remember to quote your batch numbers and the
following details; in all your correspondence message.

Best Regards.
Mr. Carlo Ghezzi
Foundation President

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam