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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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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:
  • "claim agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "million united states dollars" (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)
  • "million us dollars" (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)
  • ",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)
  • "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)
  • "you are advice to " (this email uses bad English)
• 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: "matina cole" <matinacole_001@yahoo.cn>
Date: Thu, 22 May 2008 11:56:10 -0600
Subject: PRIZE RELEASE CENTRE


MALAYSIA INTERNATIONAL LOTTERY
PRIZE RELEASE CENTRE
SURIA KLCC 4.12 FLOOR 96,
50450 JALAN AMPANG,
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA.

Attn: Winner,
MALAYSIA INTERNATIONAL LOTTERY AWARD

We happily announce to you the draw of the Malaysia International
celebration lottery Award an International program held in Malaysia.
Your E-mail address attached to ticket, Ticket No: 34-50-01-25-10,
Reference No:TUR/1611/77/07,Batch No:73/7112/EsD,and Serial No: 14-
83-43-44-08, that was held on the 18th-May-2008. This was randomly
selected by our central computer system, subsequently your lottery
award is in the 2nd category.Your name have therefore been short-
listed to claim a total sum of US$1,000,000.00 (One Million United
States Dollars) in cash. This is from a total cash prize of
US$120,000,000 Million US dollars, shared amongst the first One
Hundred and Twenty(120) lucky winners in this category world-wide.In view of this, your US$1,000,000.00(One Million United States Dollars) will be released to you by our bank. Our principal agent will immediately commence the process to facilitate the release of your funds as soon as you contact him. All participants were selected randomly from World Wide tagged Web sites through computer draw system. You are advice to contact your claim agent immediately.
=========================================================
Mr. Frank M.Brown
TEL: +601-4223-5621
Email: frankmbrown@live.com
=========================================================
Please provide him with the under listed information,
FULL NAMES:......................................................
CONTACT ADDRESS:.................................................
COUNTRY:.........................................................
NATIONALITY:.....................................................
ZIPCODE:.........................................................
SEX:...................................... AGE:..................
TEL NO:..........................................................
EMAIL ADDRESS:...................................................
OCCUPATION:......................................................
REFERENCE NO:....................................................
BATCH NO:........................................................
TICKET NO:.......................................................
PROMOTION DATE:..................................................
SERIAL NO........................................................

If you do not contact your claims agent within 5 working days of this notification,your winnings would be revoked.
Accept my hearty congratulations once again!
Mrs Matina Cole
Sincerely yours,
Winning Co -ordinator.

N.B. Any breach of confidentiality on the part of the winners will
result to Disqualification. Please do not reply to this mail. Contact your claim agent immediately.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam