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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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• What can you do when you receive 419 spam
  
  
• Spam archive, Daily index
  

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:
  • "uk national lottery" (can only win this lottery if you bought a ticket)
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • ",500,000" (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)
  • "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)
• 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: UK NATIONAL LOTTERY <cherryrings_02@hotmail.com>
Date: Sat, 22 Mar 2008 07:38:28 -0400
Subject: PLEASE FILL AND RETURN THE LOTTERY CLAIMS FORM IN EMAIL















Attention: .
This is to confirm receipt of your email. I feel it is very important I make it clear to you how you became one of our five lucky winners. UK NATIONAL LOTTERY (INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS) just concluded final draws from its periodical promotional program. An exclusive list of thousands of e-mail addresses of individual and corporate bodies was picked by automated random computer search from the internet. No tickets were sold. Your email address emerged as one of the five winners in the category A and you are therefore entitled to a sum of 1,500,000.00 (One Million, Five Hundred Thousand Pounds). My firm, DUTCH FINANCE & CONTRACTING COMPANY BV, which is an independent organization upon a contracted agreement with UK NATIONAL LOTTERY, is obligated to handle all transfer matters.
We have in our possession all instruments for this transfer and will effect it accordingly upon your meeting of our requirements. I believe the situation is clear to you now. If you have more queries, do no hesitate to ask me. For now, you are advised to fill and return the form below for swift processing of your claims. Yours faithfully,Mrs. Cherry Rings VERIFICATION AND FUNDS RELEASE FORM 1. FULL NAMES: 2. ADDRESS:
3. SEX: 4. AGE: 5. MARITAL STATUS: 6. OCCUPATION: 7. E-MAIL ADDRESS: 8. TEL AND FAX NUMBERS: 9. REFERENCE NUMBERS: 10. AMOUNT WON: 11. COUNTRY:
_________________________________________________________________
Windows Live Hotmail is giving away Zunes.
http://www.windowslive-hotmail.com/ZuneADay/?locale=en-US&ocid=TXT_TAGLM_Mobile_Zune_V3

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam