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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:

• 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.
  • jbutler.coordinator45@yahoo.fr

Fraud email example:

From: info.office2008@freenet.de
Date: Mon, 10 Mar 2008 06:11:45 +0100
Subject: Official Notice.




The National Lottery Committee
P O Box 1010 ,
L70 1NL UNITED KINGDOM




(Customer Services)
Dear Winner,
We are obliged to inform you
that we have succeeded in resolving all related problems that has made
the transfer impossible. With the help of the International Monetary
Fund(IMF) who have rendered tremendous help in this Exercise. We regret
to announce the mismanagement of beneficiaries\' funds by our appointed
zonal managers, we are not able to meet up with the winners amount due
to the list of names that are due for payment.
In appreciation of your
patience and understanding in receiving your fund we have decided to
compensate you with the sum of (950,000.00) Bank Draft. Your
identification code IS UK/ILC-1759 for compensation. You are to contact
our Zonal Coordinator, Mr.James Butler, on his e-mail address:
(jbutler.coordinator45@yahoo.fr)
Please do send him your:- (1)FULL
NAMES: (2)CONTACT ADDRESS:(3)E-MAIL ADDRESS:(4)AGE & SEX: (5)TELEPHONE
NUMBER: (6)FAX NUMBER: (7)COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:(8)STATE OF ORIGIN:(9)BREIF
DESCRIPTION OF YOUR COMPANY.Do not hesitate to let us know immediately
you receive your fund so that we can take account of how many
beneficiaries were paid.
Mr.George Norbert
NATIONAL COORDINATOR
London

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam