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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 fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
  • "yahoo lottery inc" (no such lottery exists)
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "greater london" (a common phrase found 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 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.
  • +447031943589 (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.
  • mswclaimsdeptmartins@hotmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "Microsoft Award International Team" <hpaar@siu.edu>
Reply-To: mswclaimsdept5050@live.com
Date: Sat, 31 May 2008 13:15:24 -0400
Subject: Ref:-L/200-26937


Microsoft Award International Team
Baley House, Har Road
Sutton Greater London
SM1 4te United Kingdom.
Batch:12/25/0340
Ref:-L/200-26937


Microsoft Award Notification

This is to inform you that you have won a prize money of FIVE
HUNDRED HOUSANDPOUNDS(£500,000,00) for the month of April 2008
Lottery
promotion which is organized by YAHOO LOTTERY INC & WINDOWS
LIVE.YAHOO & MICROSOFT WINDOWS, collects all the email addresses
of the people that are active online, among the millions that
subscribed to YAHOO & MICROSOFT WINDOWS we only select five
people every Month as our winners throughelectronic balloting
System without the winner applying,we congratulate you for being
one of
the people selected.

PAYMENT OF PRIZE AND CLAIM

You are to contact your Claims Agent with immediate effect to
faciliate the protocol of your winning prized before the date
of Claim, Winners Shall be paid in accordance with his/her
Settlement Centre Prize must be claimed not later than 15 days
from date of Draw Notification after the Draw date in which
Prize has won. Any prize not claimed within this period will be
forfeited.

These are your identification numbers:

Batch number...................12/25/0340
Reff number.......................MSN-L/200-26937
Winning number...................YM09788

To begin your claim please contact our licensed and accredited
agent
assigned to you.

MR. Kerry Martins
(VERIFICATION DEPARTMENT MANAGER)
Email:mswclaimsdept5050@live.com
Email:mswclaimsdeptmartins@hotmail.com
Tele:+447031943589
Tele:+447031934021



You are therefore advised to send the following information to
the
claims
agent to facilitate them.

1. Full name............
2. Country..............
3. Contact Address........
4. Telephone Number.......
5. Marital Status.........
6. Occupation.............
7. Company..............
8. Age....................


Congratulations!! once again.
Yours in service,

Mrs.Tracy Kelly.
(Operation Manager)

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam