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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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• What can you do when you receive 419 spam
  
  
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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 phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "fiduciary agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "hundred thousand u.s 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)
  • "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 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.
  • +447045715913 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: "Andrews, Sandy" <Sandy.Andrews@stjohns.org>
Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2008 04:32:17 -0700
Subject: You have won ($200,000.00)






YAHOO LOTTERY
PROMOTIONS/ PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT.
79 BOVILL ROAD
LONDON. SE23 1EL.
Ref: EGS/2251256003/02
Batch: 14/0017/1PD

The board of directors and entire member of staff of the YAHOO
Lottery wishes to inform you of the result of the (Email Address
Ballot)YAHOO Lottery program held at the British Headquarter.
Your email account have been picked as a winner of TWO HUNDRED
THOUSAND U.S DOLLARS ($200,000.00) in the YEAR 2008 in cash
credited to file KTU/9023118308/03.

This is from a total sum of TEN MIILLION U.S DOLLARS ($200,000.00)
in the YEAR 2008 YAHOO) shared amongst the winners,your email address
attached to ticket number: 56475600545 188 with Serial number 5368/02
drew the lucky numbers 17-19-20-32-36-48 and bonus ball 18 in the
Lottery ,you where selected through a computer ballot system drawn from
Microsoft users from company and individual email address users.

Be advice to keep your winning information confidential until your
claims have been processed and your money remitted to you.This is part
of our security protocol to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse
of this program.

For the release of your winning,kindly contact your
fiduciary agent for further directives how you can claim your winning
certificate and funds:

Contact Name: Mr. Rev Perkin
Email: revperkin@live.com
Tel: +44 7045715913

You are therefore advised to give the following information to fiduciary
agent via email: revperkin@live.com

1. Full name and address.
2. Country.
3. Tel and fax number.
4. Occupation.

Congratulations from the entire member of staff and thank you for being
part of our email account users program.

Yours Sincerely,
Mr. Andrews Sandy,
Executive (YAHOO LOTTERY).

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam