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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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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 phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "courier company" (Courier companies mentioned in 419 scams are always fake. They will have you send money to them, but won't deliver anything. )
• 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 mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
  • +447024073813 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
• 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.
  • topcompany@sify.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
  • topspeed.couriercompany@yahoo.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "marshal Abdul" <marshalabdul@bigmir.net>
Date: Sat, 24 May 2008 12:25:54 -0700
Subject: UK LOTTERY ORGANIZATION


UK LOTTERY ORGANIZATION
TICKET FREE/ONLINE E-MAIL ADDRESS WINNINGS DEPARTMENT.
Telephone: +447024073813

WINNING NOTIFICATION.

If you are the true owner of this email address, we happily announce to you
the draw of the Uk-Lotto Sweepstake Lottery International programs held in
Zhuhai Guangdong province, CHINA on the 2nd ,May 2008. Your e-mail address
attached to ticket number: 56475600545 with Serial number 5368/02 drew the
lucky numbers:07-12-23-26-29-44 which subsequently won you the lottery in
the first category.

You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of £1,655,895 (One
million, six hundred and fifty five thousand, eight hundred and ninety five
British Pounds sterling) which is approximately $3,238,633.37 USD, from
total cash prize of £1,655,895 was shared amongst the first Ten (10) lucky
winners in this category All participants were selected randomly from World
Wide Web site through computer draw system and extracted from over 100,000
companies.

The Topspeed Courier Company has been given the Contract to deliver all our
winners draft to the address of the respective winners. So contact the above
person:

TOP SPEED COURIER COMPANY CHINA LTD
121 JIN JIN GARDEN GUANZGHOU CHINA
Contact Agent: Mr. Cliff Chong (Director of Operations and Logistics)
Email address: topcompany@sify.com or topspeed.couriercompany@yahoo.com


To avoid unnecessary delays and complications, please quote your

1. Full names
2. Telephone number
3. Sex
4' Age
5. Occupation
6. Winnings numbers [such as ref, serial and lucky winning number]
7. Your country and address where you want to receive your winnings draft in
your contact mail to Mr. Cliff Chong.

Congratulations once more from all members and staffs of this program and
thank you for being part of our promotional lottery programs. For safety
measures and to avoid fraudulent claims you are advised to keep all about
your winnings information and notification confidential and away from all
third parties till your check arrives your address.

Congratulations once more from all the members and staffs of this program.

Sincerely, Mr. David Mark,
UK-LOTTO PROMOTION, ON-LINE NOTIFICATION MANAGER.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam