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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
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• 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:

• An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
• The following fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
  • "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)
  • "(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 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.
  • infovittoriofoundation@yahoo.it (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: vittoriofoundation121@comcast.net
Date: Mon, 21 Apr 2008 17:42:09 +0000
Subject: FONDAZIONE.

VITTORIO FONDAZIONE.
http://www.fondazionedivittorio.it
To Whom It May Concern;
To celebrate the 30th 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 US$245,000.00 (Two Hundred And Fourty Five Thousand United States Dollars). These specific Donations/Grants will be awarded to 100 lucky international recipients worldwide; At least 15% of the awarded funds should be used by you to develop a part of your
environment. which is a measure of universal development strategy.The objective is to make a notable change in the standard of living of people all around theUniverse,Below is 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.
wins are to keep this strictly confidential until the said funds has been received. This is to avoid impersonation ordouble claims which we have experienced in previous draws,You are to contact our Executive Secretary- Fabio Giovanni
Email:infovittoriofoundation@yahoo.it, with this details below.
FULL NAMES:________ADDRESS: ________COUNTRY________SEX:_____AGE:_______OCCUPATION:______TELEPHONE NUMBER:_____________________
On behalf of the Board kindly, accept our warmest congratulation
Regards.
Mr. Gianni Mattioli
{Foundation Officer}

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam