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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:
  • "fiduciary agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "foreign service manager" (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.
  • +447031833760 (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.
  • davidstephen01@gmail.com
  • dstephen01@yahoo.co.uk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
  • 3adstephen01@yahoo.co.uk

Fraud email example:

From: "Monica Martin" <prizeawarddept02@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 9 Oct 2008 00:23:26 +0200
Subject: YAHOO LOTTORY


Yahoo Lottory Inc
European Region Office:
10B Canada Square, London HP1 8HFD,England. U.K.

This is to inform you that you have won prize money of Five Hundred Thousand
Great Britain Pounds (£500, 000, 00.) for the month of July/August, 2008
Prize promotion which is organized by YAHOO AWARDS & WINDOWS LIVE.

YAHOO collects all the email addresses of the people that are active
online, among the millions that subscribed to Yahoo and Hotmail and few from
other e-mail providers. Six people are selected monthly to benefit from this
promotion and you are one of the Selected Winners.

PAYMENT OF PRIZE AND CLAIM

Winners shall be paid in accordance with his/her Settlement Centre. Yahoo
Prize Award must be claimed no later than 15 days from date of Draw
Notification. Any prize not claimed within this period will be forfeited.

Stated below are your identification numbers:

BATCH NUMBER: MFI/06/APA-43658
REFERENCE NUMBER: 2006234522
PIN: 1206

These numbers fall within the London Location file, you are requested to
contact our fiduciary agent in London and send your winning identification
numbers to him;
Below you will find a Documentation Form, requesting you're required
Particulars.

YAHOO ONLINE DOCUMENTATION FORM

1. Full name....................................
2.Country.......................................
3. Contact Address..............................
4. Telephone Number.............................
5. Marital Status...............................
6.Occupation....................................
7.Age...........................................
8.Sex...........................................

You are required to fill and submit the above particulars to our Overseas
Claims/United Kingdom Payment Unit with the below email address.

Overseas Claims/Exchange Online Payment Unit
Lottery Fiduciary Agents:

Dr. David Stephen (Foreign Service Manager)
Overseas Subscribers Agent
62 Islip Road Oxford, London OX2 7SP
United Kingdom
Email: davidstephen01@gmail.com
Email:dstephen01@yahoo.co.uk <Email%3Adstephen01@yahoo.co.uk>
Tel: + 44 703 1833 760
Fax: + 44 704 958 992

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

At your disposal, I remain.

Yours in service,

Dr. (Mrs.) Monica Martin
-----------------------------------------------------
WARNING!
Do not tell people about your Prize Award until your money is successfully
handed over to you to avoid disqualification that may arise from double
claim. You may also receive similar e-mails from people portraying to be
other Organizations or Yahoo Inc. This is solely to collect your personal
information from you and lay claim over your winning. In event that you
receive any e-mail similar to the notification letter that was sent to you,
kindly delete notify us and give no further correspondence to such person or
body.Yahoo shall not be held responsible for any loss of fund arising from
the above mentioned
------------------------------------------------------

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam