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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:
  • "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.
  • +447045771005 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: un.donations@live.com
Date: Wed, 09 Jul 2008 05:51:56 -1200
Subject: Congratulations Beneficiary!



United Nations Trust Funds
Switzerland Department of Humanitarian Affairs
Palais des Nations CH-1211 Geneva 10 Switzerland.
Website: www.un.org


Congratulations Beneficiary:

This is to inform you that you have won a fund donation of
Five Hundred Thousand Great British Pound Sterlings
(500,000.00) for this year 2008 Lottery promotion which is
organized by United Nations Organization in collaboration
with the World Bank.

United Nations Organization, collects all the email
addresses of the people that are active online, among the
millions that subscribed to the Internet. We only select ten
(20) people every Year as our beneficiary through electronic
balloting System without any individual applying, we
congratulate you for being one of the beneficiary selected.

Below is your winning identification numbers, Call your
payment agent immediately you recieve this winning alert to
analyse your winning numbers to him for documentation:

Winning number...................UN/1040/3

These numbers fall within your Location file, you are
requested to contact your payment agent with the completed
verification form below, to enable him verify your claims
via email.

1.FULL NAMES:
2.RESIDENTIAL ADDRESS:
3.AGE:
4.WINNING EMAIL:
5.PHONE/FAX NUMBERS:
6.NATIONALITY:
7.SEX:
8.OCCUPATION:
9.MARITAL STATUS:
10.NEXT OF KIN:

Please demand for his official identity card for security
reasons to avoid any fraudulent art by individuals also all
transactions should be handled by his office in respect of
your payment.

*********************************************************
NAME: MR. JERRY GRRIBSON
CONTACT NO: +44-7045-771-005
CONTACT EMAIL: jerrygribson@y7mail.com
**********************************************************

Regards,
Mr Ban Ki-moon.
(UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY GENERAL)

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam