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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:

• 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:
  • "claims office" (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 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.
  • +34671752704 (Spain, prepaid mobile phone)
• 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.
  • contactagentluisorte@excite.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
  • 3acontactagentluisorte@excite.com

Fraud email example:

From: "HERTOG LINDA" <lindahertog01@mailbox.hu>
Reply-To: lindahertog@sify.com
Date: Mon, 26 May 2008 18:27:31 -0700
Subject: ****LUCKY WINNER****


Euromillion España Email Lottery
International Prize Award Department
c/ sierra de Albarracin 18
28912 Alcorcon Madrid Spain


Lucky winner,

We bring to your notice the EMAIL WINNING NOTIFICATION from Euromillion
España Promotion Lottery held on the 17th of December,2007 through cumputer
ballot System among 20,000 internets users.Subsequently,your email address
attached to sum of 1,000,000,00 euros from a total sum of 20,000,000,00
Euros.

We request you to pay serious attention to this notification by contacting
the claims department with claim information and procedures of claim.

PROCESSING OFFICER (Luis Ortega)
EUROMILLIONS CLAIMS OFFICE(SP).
TEL:+34-671-752-704 .
E-mail:contactagentluisorte@excite.com<E-mail%3Acontactagentluisorte@excite.com>


Please you are ask to forward the bellow Information to the Euromillion
processing Agent as soon as possible.

(I) Reference Number: 421/613/580-EB
(ii) Ticket Number: M754/22/76
(iii)Batch Number: 42546-934-VE
(iv)File Number: 2-34-90-57-11
(v) Award Number: TL 22/15406

For verification purpose be sure to include:
(1) mailing address.
(2) Tel/Fax numbers.
(3) Nationality/Country.
{4} Full Names.

Congratulations once again from our members of staff


Yours faithfully,
Linda Hertog (Mrs)
Legal Coordinator

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam