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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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• 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:

• 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:
  • "microsoft lottery" (no such lottery exists)
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "fudiciary" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • ",000,000" (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)
• 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.
  • joesephcrew_verification@doramail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "MICROSOFT LOTTERY PROGRAM" <microsoft.lotteryprogram@yahoo.it> (may be fake)
Reply-To: microsoft.lotteryprogram@yahoo.es
Date: Wed, 7 May 2008 10:28:20 +0000
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS, YOU WON

Dear Mr/Mrs/Sir/Madam:

Today, we announce the 10 lucky winners of the MICROSOFT
LOTTERY PROGRAM held. Your company or your
personal e-mail address, attached to the Chip Number: 8776742, won in
the First lottery category 001. Your email address has brought you an
unexpected luck, please read through this message.
You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of Euro 1,000,000
(One Million Euro Only) in cash credited to file
MSW/9080118308/02/LA. All participants were selected randomly from
'World Wide Web' site through Microsoft computer ballot system
(MCBS) and extracted from over 100,000 individuals and companies.
For security reasons, you are advised to keep your chip number .
Note that all claims process and clearance procedures must be duly
completed early to avoid impersonation.

Contact Person:
Mr Joeseph crew
Fudiciary Agent,
Email:joesephcrew_verification@doramail.com
To proceed with your claims, you would be required to fill the
Verification Form below completely and return back to us immediately.

BENEFICIARY FIRST NAME......................
BENEFICIARY LAST NAME......................
NATIONALITY...................................
RESIDENTIAL ADDRESS.........................
DATE OF BIRTH................................
SEX...............................................
TEL. NUMBER....................................
EMAIL ADDRESS.................................

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam