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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
• Support our efforts to stop scams!
  
• How to report 419 spam to us
• 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 phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
• 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: "JORIS DIJK" <inquiries2@live.com>
Date: Sat, 05 Apr 2008 06:11:03 -0700
Subject: Reference Number: <3007384036071-1BYL052-3/5-481>

Reference Number: <3007384036071-1BYL052-3/5-481>


Dear Sir/Madam,

We are happy to announce to you that your email address has won the lump
sum pay out of 1,000, 000.00 (One Million Euros only) in our draw (Category
B) of
30th Maart, 2008.


The draw was done electronically with several email addresses that met the
optimal internet usage criteria for the first quarter of 2008.

The email addresses was provided to this office by Microsoft Window.


To claim your prize, you are to contact the claims department with your
reference number with the details below:

(1) Full Names:
(2) Nationality:
(3) Reference Number:
(4) Telephone Number:

Contact Person: Allan Wouters
E-mail: inquiries1@live.com


Met vriendelijke groet,

Joris Van Dijk

Manager Commercie

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam