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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
  
  
• 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:

• 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.
  • +447045752265 (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.
  • sweepstakes@btinternet.com

Fraud email example:

From: info@sweepstakes.org
Reply-To: sweepstakes@btinternet.com
Date: Wed, 01 Oct 2008 17:46:23 +0800 (MYT)
Subject: ATTENTION


SWEEPSTAKES ONLINE LOTTERY
Batch: R3/A312-59
Ref : LSUK/2031/8161/06
(Customer Service)

ATTN: Winner,

Please be informed that your e-mail address just won for you a prize from our 2nd category, You are therefore been approved to claim a total sum of =A3850,000:00 (Eight Hundred and Fifty Thousand, Pounds Sterlings) in cash credited to file. To file for your claims and further explanation, Please send your reply to our VALIDATING OFFICER with the below details required for immediate validating of your winning. Contact him via e-mail below:

FULL NAME OF BENEFICIARY:
CONTACT ADDRESS:
STATE/CITY:
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY:
OCCUPATION:
SEX:
AGE:
PHONE NUMBER:

VALIDATING OFFICER:
Name: SIR. ALEX MOORE
Email: sweepstakes@btinternet.com
Tele: +44 704 5752 265
+44 704 5720 293

Regards,
Mrs Rose Hughes
Online Coordinator for Sweepstakes Online Promo

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam