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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:
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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.

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Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "hundred thousand united states 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)
  • "abuja" (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.
  • +2348050765553 (Nigeria, 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.
  • mychevronoil.onlin2008@gmail.com

Fraud email example:

From: (sent from abused email account)
Date: Sat, 11 Oct 2008 16:34:09 +0100
Subject: REPLY VIA Email(mychevronoil.onlin2008@gmail.com)

CHEVRON OIL/PETROLEUM 2008
Head Office
8, Macarthy Street,
P.M.B Box 166
Abuja, Nigeria.
Call us @:+23480-507-65553
Email:mychevronoil.onlin2008@gmail.com


This is to inform you that you have won a prize money of Seven Hundred
Thousand United States Dollars, ($700,000.00) for this year 2008
Lottery
promotion which is organized by CHEVRON OIL/PETROLUEM 2008. CHEVRON
OIL/PETROLUEM 2008, collects all the email addresses of the people
that are active online, among the millions that
subscribed to the Internet.we only select five people every Year as
our winners through electronic balloting System without the winner
applying,we congratulate you forbeing one of the
people selected.

These are your identification numbers:
Batch number....................CT 091026XN Ref
number......................CT 095447XN
Winning number...............CT 097886XN
KINDLY PROVIDE TO US THE FOLLOWING:

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


These numbers fall within your Location file, you are requested to
contact the events manager/Claims Department, send your
winning identification numbers to him,to enable him verify your claims.

Regards
Mr Ali Yusuf

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam