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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
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• 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
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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:
  • "australian lottery" (can only win this lottery if you bought a ticket)
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
  • "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
• 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!

Fraud email example:

From: "auslotto 2008" <aus2008lottoaward1@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2008 01:28:25 -0700
Subject: AUSTRALIAN LOTTERY INC 2008 AWARD DRAW.


AUSTRALIAN LOTTERY INC,
6123 COOL STREET ROAD
SOMEWHERE VALUE AX34587,
AUSTRALIA.
Date:14/07/2008
Ref: 16/HW
Batch: 705649/188
Winning no: GB8701/LPRC.


Dear Sir/Madam,

We are delighted to inform you of your prize which was released on the
1st of July 2008, from the Australian Promotional Lottery pro gramme,which
is fully based on an electronic selection of winners using their e-mail
addresses from some sites. Your email address was attached to ticket number;
47001725 07056490102 and serial number 7741134002.This batch draws the lucky
numbers as follows 5-13-33-37-42 and bonus number 17,which consequently won
the lottery in the second category. You hereby have been approved a lump sum
pay of US$150,000.00 (ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS) in cash credit
file ref:ILP/HW 47509/09 from the total cash prize shared amongst eight
lucky winners in this category.

All participants were selected through a computer balloting system drawn
form Nine hundred thousand E-mail addresses from Canada, Australia,United
States, Asia, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Oceania as part of our
international promotion program which is conducted annually.This Lottery was
promoted and sponsored by a conglomerate of some multinational companies as
part of their social responsibility to the citizens in the communities where
they have an operational base. Furthermore, your details(e-mail address)
falls within our European representative office in Amsterdam,Holland as
indicated in your play coupon and your prize of US$150,000.00 will be
released to you from the regional branch office in NIGERIA. We hope that
with part of your prize, you will participate in our end of year high stakes
for US$300.000 THOUSAND international draw.


HOW TO CLAIM YOUR PRIZE:

Simply contact our fiducial agent,REV. FR.Edward Simon at
rev_fr_edwardsimon@yahoo.au<http://us.mc596.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=rev_fr_edwardsimon@yahoo.au>
Please quote your reference/batch and winning numbers which can be found on
the top left corner of this notification as well as your full name,address
and telephone number to help locate your file easily.For security reasons,
we advice all winners to keep this information confidential from the public
until your claim is processed and your prize released to you.This is part of
our security protocol to avoid double claiming and unwarranted taking
advantage of this pro gramme by non-participants or unofficial
personnel.Note, all winnings MUST be claimed before 1st of August 2008;
otherwise all funds will be returned as Unclaimed and eventually donated to
charity organizations.

PLEASE CONTACT REV. FR. Edward Simon, so that he will tell you of how you
will receive your winning prize. CONTACT HIM AT:
rev_fr_edwardsimon@yahoo.au<http://us.mc596.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=rev_fr_edwardsimon@yahoo.au>

Congratulations once again on your win!!!

Best Regards (coordinator)

PLEASE CONTACT YOUR CLAIMS AGENT AT ANY BREACH
CONFIDENTIALITY ON THIS CLAIM VIA EMAIL

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam