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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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• 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:
  • "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 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.
  • wilcoxdesk@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: membership@mail.oursnapp.com
Reply-To: wilcoxdesk@gmail.com
Date: Fri, 18 Jul 2008 03:01:11 -0700
Subject: : FREE AWARD LOTTO has sent you an interesting link

cool page! FREE AWARD LOTTO has sent you a link Attention Winner, You are a winner of the FREE LOTTO AWARD program that was held on the 18th of Junly 2008. You have been approved to claim a sum £500,000.00 of cash credited to file KTU/9023118308/03. To file for your claims you are to contact our claims agent: Mr. Williams Wilcox Email:wilcoxdesk@gmail.com Provide him with your personal information to claim your prize. Fullname:______________ Address:___________ Age:_______ Sex:_______ tel:_______________ Country:_______________ Amount won:________ Yours Truly, Mrs Carolyna Anderson (Online Co-ordinator) http://www.snappville.com/ Best wishes, FREE AWARD LOTTO Have fun and thanks for using ! Express yourself in words, pictures, music and video. EASY, FUN, and FREE! http://www.snappville.com

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