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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!
  
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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:

• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "claim agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "will come to you as a surprise" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • "abidjan" (a location commonly mentioned 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.
  • +22566870805 (Cote d'Ivoire, probably a prepaid mobile phone)
• 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.
  • sangare_chamber@yahoo.fr
  • corina_olga00@yahoo.fr

Fraud email example:

From: Corina Olga <corinaolga542@yahoo.ca>
Reply-To: corina_olga00@yahoo.fr
Date: Thu, 9 Oct 2008 02:12:48 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: CONGRATULATION.




   
Microsoft E-mail Promotion
Microsoft House Prescott
Abidjan E1 8RP,
Ivory Coast.
 
Ref: ldn/5563/40/06/ABJ
Batch: mcst/11/836/52dn/ABJ
Award: ldn/56/7762
Ticket: ldn/553/26/97
Serial: ldn/006/4656/ABJ.
 
Our Ref: mcstldn/ABJ.
It is obvious that this notification will come to you as a surprise but
 please find time to read it carefully as we congratulate you over your
 success in the following official publication of results of the E-mail
 electronic online Sweepstakes held yesterday, organized by Microsoft
 cote d ivoire, in conjunction with the foundation for the promotion of
 software products F.P.S wherein your electronic email address emerged as one
 of the online winning emails in the 2nd category and therefore
 attracted a cash award of £1.mGBP (One Million  British. Your file falls in
 our Abidjan Claim office. Our winners are arranged into three categories
 with different winning prizes accordingly in each category. 1st, 2nd
 and 3rd category.
We write to officially notify you of this award and to advise you to
 contact the processing department immediately upon the receipt of this
 message for more information concerning the verification, processing and
 for immediate payment of the above prize to you.
It is important to note that your award information was released with
 the following particulars attached to it.
Claim verification Form:
Full
 Name(s)......................................................................
Address:............................................................................
Country:............................................................................
Phone no:........................Fax:
 no:....................................
Gender:.............................your
 category........................
Marital
 Status:...................................................................
Age:...........................Amount
 won:..................................
Occupation:.......................................................................
Email
 Address:...................................................................
Batch
 no:...........................................................................
Award
 no:..........................................................................
Ticket
 no:...........................................................................
Serial
 no:...........................................................................
Ref.
 no:................................. ............................................
 
To file for your claim, Please contact your Claim Agent for more
 information of your winning within 14 working days of this winning
 notification. Winnings that are not claimed within fourteen working days of this
 winning notification are termed void and invalid. You are required to
 mention the above particulars of your award in every correspondence to
 enable your Agent in Abidjan validate your winning.
Contact our lawyer today:
Name: Mr. Sangare kone
Microsoft House Prescott
Abidjan E1 8RP
Ivory Coast
Email:sangare_chamber@yahoo.fr
Tel.: +225 66 87 08 05.
Privacy Statement:
The Microsoft Internet E-mail lottery Award Program is sponsored by the
 CEOs, the NGOs and a group of Software Promotion Companies (SPC). The
 Intel Group, Toshiba, Dell Computers and other International Companies.
 The Microsoft Internet E-mail draw is held periodically and is
 organized to encourage the use of the Internet and promote computer literacy
 worldwide.
N/B: All Winnings must be claimed not later than 10 days; thereafter
 all unclaimed prizes would indefinitely be annulled!
Your Agent,
On behalf of all our staff, we say
CONGRATULATIONS!
Yours Faithfully
Mrs. Corina.
Email corina_olga00@yahoo.fr
Secretary General Microsoft E-mail Promotion.
 
 

 


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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam