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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
• Support our efforts to stop scams!
  
• How to report 419 spam to us
• What can you do when you receive 419 spam
  
  
• 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:

• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "from: the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • "claims director" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "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)
• 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.
  • +448709746645 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
  • +447955167964

Fraud email example:

From: "Woods, Brad E" <bwoods1@uncfsu.edu>
Date: Sun, 1 Jun 2008 19:32:53 -0400
Subject: =?iso-8859-1?Q?ATTENTION=3AWINNER_=28YOU_HAVE_BEEN_GRANTED_THE_SUM_OF?=
=?iso-8859-1?Q?_=A3500=2C000_GBP=29?=



FROM: THE DESK OF THE CLAIMS DIRECTOR,
YAHOO MSN INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS / PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT,
REF: YAHOO6/315116127/27
BATCH: 8254297137
Registered Lottery No 220949
(Thanks for contributing to our Financial Success)

ATTENTION:WINNER,

This is to inform you that you have been selected for a cash prize of
£500,000.00 Pounds. This email promotion was held on the 31TH of
MAY 2008 in London United Kingdom. Your e-mail address attached to
ticket number 883734657492-5319 with serial number 7263-267, batch
number 8254297137 drew the lucky numbers 14-22-28-37-40-44 which
consequently won in the 1st category, you have therefore been approved
for a lump sum pay out of £500,000.00 (i.e. five Hundred Thousand
United Kingdom Pounds Sterling) in cash credited to file REF:
YAHOO6/315116127/27. To file for your claims you are to contact
our REMMITANCE DIRECTOR for further information.

NAME: MR WEST NEWTON (REMMITANCE DIRECTOR)
EMAIL: west_newton12@live.co.uk <mailto:west_newton12@live.co.uk>
Tell: +44-795-516-7964
Fax: +44-870-974-6645

You are hereby advised to provide our claims department with the
following information: REF Number, Batch number, Winning Email Address.
Thereafter you will directed by your remittance officer on how to claim your prize.
YAHOO MSN PROMOTION is a free service that does not require you to
register or be a Yahoo registered user before winning. You have
received this message from Yahoo International PROMOTIONS prize dept
because you have visited one of our sponsored sites and have
voluntarily given your email address to receive mails from their
sponsors. Your email address was selected along side ten lucky winners
around the world who have there email voluntarily given to receive
mails from various site that we sponsor around the world.

To View Some Of Our Past Lucky Winner Click:

**http://img.timeinc.net/TFK/media/news/2006a/060222_lottery_hor.jpg
**http://images.usatoday.com/news/_photos/2005/09/23/lottery-winners-inside.jpg
**http://www.louisianalottery.com/assets/images/newsroom/Lotto%20Winners/CarlosCase2.jpg
**http://www.javoue.com/presse/yahoo_javoue.jpg

Mrs.Sherrell Barber (Zonal Coordinator)
YAHOO MSN PROMOTIONS

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam