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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:
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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 fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
  • "international lottery programme" (no such lottery exists)
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "claims agent" (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.
  • +447011146614 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: "AUSTRALIA LOTTERY" <australialottery013@torba.com>
Date: Sat, 12 Jul 2008 08:03:30 +0100
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS!!! (Your e-mail has won you $400,000.00)


*FROM:THE DESK OF THE VICE PRESIDENT INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS/PRIZE AWARDS
DEPARTMENT AUSTRALIA INTERNATIONAL SWEEPSTAKE LOTTERY CORPORATION.*
**
*Ref: 575061725 *
*Batch: 8056490902/188*

*Winning Numbers*
*1*
*2*
*26*
*30*
*40*
*21*


*AWARD NOTIFICATION: FINAL NOTICE*

Attn: Winner 05',

We are pleased to inform you of the lottery result winners of Australia
International Lottery Programmes held this year; which is fully based on an
random electronic mail selection of winners using their e-mail addresses.

Your email was attached to ticket number; 675061725 9356460902 Serial
Number 67749137002. This batch draws the lucky numbers as follows
2-9-23-35-46 bonus number 14, which consequently won the lottery in the
second category. You are here by having been approved a lump sum pay of
US$400,000.00 (FOUR HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS) in cash credit file ref:
ILP/HW 46704/08 from the total cash prize shared amongst eight lucky winners
in this category.

Due to mix up of some numbers and names, you are advised to keep your
winning information confidential until your claims has been processed and
your money remitted to your nominated bank. This is part of our security
protocol to avoid double claims and unwarranted abuse of this programme by
some participants.

All participants where selected through a computer/mail balloting system
drawn from Nine hundred thousand E-mail addresses from Canada, Australia,
United States, Asia, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Oceania as part of our
international promotions program which is conducted annually. This Lottery
was promoted and sponsored by a conglomerate of some multinational companies
and also the Australian Government as part of their social responsibility to
the citizens in the communities where they have operational base.

Further more, your details (e-mail address) falls within our European
representative office in Leichester, and your prize of US$400,000.00 will be
released to you from our regional paying bank in *Nigeria*. We hope with
part of your prize, you will participate in our end of year high stakes for
US$5.2 Million international draw.

HOW TO CLAIM YOUR PRIZE: Simply contact your Claims agent, Mr. Edward
Samuel, at;
E-mail australialotto_agent@torba.com
Phone +44-701-114-6614.
Location United Kingdom (Leichester)

To file for your claim. Please quote the Date of reciept of this
notification, Reference Number, Batch Number and Winning Number, which can
be found on the top-left corner of this message. Also, you should give in
your telephone number for easy communication.

Warning: All winnings MUST be claimed on or before a month from date of
publication; otherwise all funds will be forfeited!!!

Congratulations once again on your winning!

REGARDS
FLORENCE RICARDO (MRS)
(LOTTERY COORDINATOR)

PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS EMAIL ADDRESS. CONTACT YOUR CLAIMS AGENT AT:
australialotto_agent@torba.com

*ANY BREACH OF CONFIDENTIALITY ON THE PART OF WINNERS WILL RESULT TO
DISQUALIFICATION!!!*

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam