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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 office" (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!
• 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.
  • gamingdept.uk@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "UK ONLINE LOTTERY BOARD 2008" <info@lotto.co.uk>
Reply-To: gamingdept.uk@gmail.com
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2008 18:09:40 -0530 (IST)
Subject: YOU HAVE WON


The Free Lotto Sweepstakes,
PO Box 42 Peter borough
SE15 2UD
UNITED KINGDOM

Ref No: MELI-T/ 17-F044262312
Batch No:901/00319/HLP
Zonal Draw No: GMLA2-003
Grand Draw No: 12099

Dear Winner,

Your qualification number:023-0148-790-459 with Serial number
5368/05 drew
the lucky number: 29 We are pleased to notify you that your
email address emerged as a
winner in our promotional lotto sweepstakes and as a result
you have
been granted the lump sum payout of £1,000.000.00(G.B.P)
which is
equivalentto ($2,000,956.00 USD).

Contact your claims officer below for your claims/winnings

Mrs Peterson Irving
Email:gamingdept.uk@gmail.com

you are to forward the following details to enable us clear
your file
for immediate payment:

1. Full Names: _______________________

2. Address: __________________________

3. Age: _____________________________

4. Sex: ______________________________

5. Marital Status: _____________________

6. Occupation: ________________________

7. Phone numbers: ______________________

8. Fax number: ________________________

9. Country: ___________________________

Sincerely,
Mrs Eva Pedro
On line Coordinator
Free Lotto Sweepstakes.
-- Sent at 17:14:39 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