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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.

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:
  • ",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)
• 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!

Fraud email example:

From: "Smirnova, Alevtina" <alevtina@engr.uconn.edu>
Date: Thu, 2 Oct 2008 04:18:03 -0400
Subject: urgent response

Dear Winner,
I hereby bring to your notice that your Email address was selected online in thisweek's MICROSOFT® SPAM FREE EMAIL AWARD PROMO i.e (your email address was not among spamed
addresses and Microsoft® is offering award to such email owners). Your draw has a total
value of £380,000.00 (THREE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY THOUSAND POUNDS) from the International
online programs held in London,United Kingdom.
The selection process was carried out from a database of over 1,000,000 email addresses
drawn from all the continents of the world as no purchasing of tickets were required.
The MICROSOFT® SPAM FREE EMAIL AWARD PROMOTION is also approved by the British Gaming
Board and also Licensed by the International Association of Gaming Regulators(IAGR).
This promo is the 1st of its kind and we intend to sensitize the public as we are using
it to promote unanswered "spam mails".
You are adviced to acknowledge the receipt of this mail with the details below to:
Name: Mr,Dennis Anderson.
Email: (msft.prizeclaims@live.com)
for your claims.
Please take note of this message all winners are to send response only to this
email: msft.prizeclaims@live.com for security purpose.
send your message to us at msft.prizeclaims@live.com
Claims Requirements:
1).Full name:
2).Residential Address:
3).Phone Number:
For security reasons,you are advised to keep this information confidential from family
members and close friends until your prizes is released to you. This is part of our
security protocol to avoid double claims and impersonations.
Yours Sincerely,
Mr.Dennis Anderson

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam