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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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• 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 phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "fiduciary agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
• 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.
  • agentbonnieuk@yahoo.com.hk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "Gabriel, Lisa" <Lisa.Gabriel@enmu.edu>
Date: Fri, 30 May 2008 07:02:25 -0600
Subject: Claim Your Lottery Prize!!!!





Company No. 02949433
SERIAL NUMBER: 5368/02
TICKET NUMBER: 8603775966738
Batch Number: 074/05/ZY369
Ref Number: UK/9420X/05
WINNING NOTIFICATION
We are pleased to inform you of the final announcement that you are
one of our beginning of the year winners of the UNITED KINGDOM ONLINE
PROMO AWARDS, held on 22th May , 2008. You have won for your self
a total sum of £1,200,000 POUNDS STERLING.

However, no tickets were sold but all email addresses were assigned to different ticket numbers for representation and privacy.The selection process was carried out through random selection in our computerized email selection machine(TOPAZ) from a database of over 250,000 email addresses drawn from all the continents of the world.

Please you are adviced to complete the form and send it immediately to our Promotion manager through email or fax for prompt collection of your fund from the designated bank.

Fill the below information’s and send to the fiduciary agent for your
Claims verification:
FILL THE CLAIMS FORM BELOW AND SEND
TO OUR CLAIMS AGENT FOR VERIFICATION
1. Full Names:
2. Address:
3. Age:
4. Sex:
5. Marital Status:
6. Occupation:
7. Phone numbers:
8. Country:

Mr Morrison Bonnie
Email: agentbonnieuk@yahoo.com.hk


Yours Truly,
Co-ordinator(Online Promo Programme)



Confidentiality Notice:
This e-mail, including all attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information as defined under FERPA. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited unless specifically provided under the New Mexico Inspection of Public Records Act. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender and destroy all copies of this message

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam