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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:
  • "fiduciary agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "claim agent" (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)
  • "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.
  • +447045768731 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: "Willford Gart" <mrwillfordgart008@live.com>
Reply-To: willfordgart2008@live.com
Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 08:52:36 -0400
Subject: YOUR EMAIL ID HAVE WON!!!




MICROSOFT AWARD TEAM
Microsoft Corporation
#1 Microsoft Way Redmond, WA 98052.
Ref: BTD/968/06
Batch: 409978E.
Dear Lucky winner,

WINNING NOTIFICATION
**********************
The prestigious Microsoft and AOL has set out and successfully
organised
a Sweepstakes to mark the ending of year 2007.
100,000.000.00 (One Hundred Million Great Britain Pounds) is
been roll out
to mark the beginning of the year 2008. Participants for the
draws were
randomly selected and drawn from a wide range of web hosts which
we enjoy
their patronage.The selection was made through a computer draw
system
attaching personalised email addresses to ticket
numbers.Microsoft and
AOL are now the largest Internet companies and in an effort to
make sure
that Internet Explorer remains the most widely used program,
Microsoft
and AOL are running an e-mail beta test.Your email was luckily
drawn by
a computer balloting system as one of our winners in our
experimental
lottery bonanza from the prestigous MICROSOFT AND AOL ONLINE
PROMOTION.
Thus, making you the winner Your email address as indicated was
drawn
and attached to ticket number 008795727498 with serial numbers
BTD/9080648302/06
and drew the lucky numbers 14-21-25-39-40-47(20) which
subsequently
won you 1,000,000.00GBP (One million Great Britain Pounds) as
one of
the jackpot winners in this draw.You have therefore won the
entire
winning sum of 1,000,000.00GBP (One million Great Britain
Pounds)
We appreciate your patronage. This draw was held on the 19-06-
2008
and the result was sent to my office today.Please be informed by
this winning notification,to file your claims,
you are to make contact with your designated agent who shall by
duty guide
you through the process to facilitate the release of your prize.
Please contact our Fiduciary Agent for VALIDATION.
**************************************************
Mr Willford Gart
Microsoft Promotion Award Team
Head Winning Claims Dept.
TELL:+44 704 576 8731
E-mail:willfordgart2008@live.com
***************************************************
PLEASE FILL BELOW YOUR DETAILS AND SEND IT TO OUR CLAIM AGENT.
Your Personal Data Form Fill Please.
Name Of Winner:_____________________________
Sex_______________________________________
Nationality:_________________________________
Age:________________________________
Occupation::_________________________________
Marital Status:________________________________
Tel No:______________________________________
Fax No:_____________________________________
Postal Address:______________________________
Country:_____________________________________
Amount Won:________________________________
Winning E-mail Address:_______________________
Lucky Number___________________________
Our special thanks and gratitude to Bill Gates
and his associates.We
wish you the best of luck.Thank you for being
part of our promotional
award program and commemorative Anniversary
Draws.

Sincerely,
Dr Mrs Matida Coker jp
Head Customercare Service
Microsoft Promotion Team
NB:Any claim not made before seven (7)
working days from date
of notification indicate that the winner has
voluntarily
forfeited
his/her winnings.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam