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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
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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:

• 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")
  • ",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)
  • "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)
  • "barrister" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
• 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!
• Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.
• 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.
  • +447045753969 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
• 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.
  • barristerjamesharry@rocketmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "CLEARIFICATION OFFICE" <info@yahoo.co.uk>
Reply-To: barristerjamesharry@rocketmail.com
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2008 16:22:51 +0530 (IST)
Subject: Attn:WINNER


AWARD DEPARTMENT.
P O Box 1010,L70 1NL Liverpool,
UNITED KINGDOM(Customer Services)
Ref: FER/4690/6103/24Batch:245-379-482
Winning No:701/RMD123

NOTIFICATION Attn:WINNER

We happily announce to you the draw of the Bono Lottery International
Program held on the 18th of August 2008. Your name "email address"
was attached to ticket number; 12324277 serial number 6663817262 This
batch draws the lucky numbers as follows 2-9-22-23-24-30 bonus number5,

which consequently won the lottery in the second category.

You hereby have been approved lump sum pay of £1,800,000.00 (ONE
MILLION EIGHT HUNDRED THOUSAND POUNDS) file Ref:FER/8309/1209/26 from
the total cash prize of 18,000,000.00 shared amongst ten lucky winners
contact your claims agent with the following informations.
FULL NAME:
ADDRESS:
CITY:
STATE:
ZIP CODE:
COUNTRY:
PHONE NUMBER (S):
GENDER:
MARITAL STATUS:
AGE:
GENDER:
NATIONALITY:
OCCUPATION:
PLEASE CONTACT
BARR .JAMES HARRY
EUROPEAN UNION INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS
Email:barristerjamesharry@rocketmail.com
Tel: +447045753969

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
dual claiming and unwarranted taking advantage
Best Regards
BARRISTER JOHN PETER
Co-coordinator.

-- Sent at 15:27:51 on 08/19/08 through NITK (http://www.nitk.ac.in/) Email Gateway . AV scanning & Spam checking are done on this mail --

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam