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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
• Support our efforts to stop scams!
  
• How to report 419 spam to us
• What can you do when you receive 419 spam
  
  
• 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.

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Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "million united states dollars" (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)
  • ",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)
  • "ecowas " (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
• 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.
  • +2348050534633 (Nigeria, prepaid mobile phone)

Fraud email example:

From: "Mrs Mary Jones" <user14@concannontim.com>
Reply-To: ecwl001@live.com
Date: Mon, 25 Aug 2008 13:50:32 +0000
Subject: ECOWAS DONATIONS 2008


Dear Winner,

This is to inform you that you have won a prize money of One Million
United States Dollars, ($1,000,000.00) for the year 2008 Lottery
promotion which is organized by ECOWAS DONATIONS 2008.

ECOWAS DONATIONS 2008, collects all the email addresses of people that
are active online, among the millions that subscribed to the
Internet.we only select five people every Year as our winners through
electronic
balloting System without the winner applying,We congratulate you for being
one of the people selected.

To file for your claim,you are requested to contact the events
Manager/Claims Department, send your winning Identification Numbers and the
following information.
These are your identification numbers:
Batch number.....................ECW 09102XN
Reff number.......................ECW35447XN
Winning number...................ECW09788
Full Names,Contact Address,Phone Number,Age,Sex,
Occupation,Country.
CONTACT THE FINANCE DEPARTMENT
Name:Mr.David Mbeki
Tel: +234-8050-534-633
E-mail:ecwl001@live.com

Thank you and Accept my hearty Congratulations once again!
Yours faithfully,
Mrs.Mary Jones

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam