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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:

• 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:
  • "from the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • "fiduciary 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)
  • "lagos" (a location commonly mentioned 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.
  • +2348033449089 (Nigeria, 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.
  • richardpeterson_256@hotmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
  • 3arichardpeterson_256@hotmail.com

Fraud email example:

From: "MRS.LAURA OBI" <lott20@me.by>
Reply-To: richardpeterson_256@hotmail.com
Date: Fri, 27 Jun 2008 08:50:40 -0700
Subject: WE ARE HAPPILY ANNOUNCE TO YOU


*FROM THE DESK OF THE MANAGING DIRECTOR**
INTERNATIONAL/PRIZE AWARD DEPT
CONTACT ADDRESS:NO,144 GLOBAL AVENUE
VICTORIA ISLAND LAGOS NIGERIA.
WINNING NUMBERS:**37-13-43-85-67-11.BV* <http://37-13-43-85-67-11.bv/>
*REF:S6376527711 **
BATCH:S7151085135

Attn: Winner,

We are please to announce you as one of the 10 lucky winners in National the
Free Lotto draw held on the 27th OF June 2008. All 10 winning addresses were
randomly selected from a batch of 50,000,000 International emails. Your
email address emerged alongside 9 others as a category one winner in this
year's Annual free lotto Draw. Consequently,you have therefore been approved
for a total pay out of $1.500,00USD(one million, Five hundred Thousand
(Dollars only) CONGRATULATIONS!!! Due to mix up of some numbers and names,
we ask that you keep your winning information confidential until your claims
has been processed and your money Remitted to you. This is part of our
security protocol to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this
program by some participants.

All participants were selected through a computer ballot system drawn from
over 40,000 company and 20,000,000 individual email addresses and names from
all over the world.This promotional program takes place every year. This
lottery was promoted and sponsored by Association of software producers. We
hope with part of your winning,you will take part in our next year US$20
million international lottery.For security reasons, you are advised to keep
your winning information confidential till your claims is processed and your
money remitted to you in whatever manner you deem fit to claim your prize.

This is a part of our precautionary measure to avoid double claiming and
unwarranted abuse of this program by some unscrupulous elements. Please be
warned. To file for your claim, please Call or email our fiduciary agent
with the below details for processing of your claims:

NAME:DR RICHARD PETERSON.
(CHIEF FINANCIAL DIRECTOR
NATIONAL LOTTERY NIGERIA LTD.)
Tele:234-803-3449089
**EMAIL:richardpeterson_256@hotmail.com*<http://us.mc448.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=EMAIL%3Arichardpeterson_256@hotmail.com>
*Remember, all winning must be claimed not later than 90 Days.After this
date all unclaimed funds will be included in the next stake.Please note in
order to avoid unnecessary delays and complications please remember to quote
your reference number and batch numbers in all correspondence.Furthermore,
should there be any change of address do inform our agent as soon as
possible.Congratulations once more from our members of staff and thank you
for being part of our promotional program.**

Yours faithfully,
Mrs. Laura Obi.
AFRO-ASIAN Zonal Coordinator.*

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam