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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:

• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "from: the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
• 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.
  • +31630800322 (Netherlands, 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.
  • lottobv001@aim.com

Fraud email example:

From: =?utf-8?B?IkxhZGlzbGF2IEFuZHLvv70i?= <ladislav.andrs@iol.cz>
Reply-To: infoshell@aim.com
Date: Wed, 22 Oct 2008 14:19:35 GMT
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS YOU HAVE WON




INTERNATIONAL CASINO ONLINE LOTTERY AND PROMOTIONS.
GASTRITIS 264, AMSTERDAM,
THE NETHERLANDS.
FROM: THE DESK OF THE MANAGING DIRECTOR
INTERNATIONAL PROMOTION/PRIZE AWARD DEPT,
WWW.casino.nl

WINNING NUMBER: EPW-11/221/122.

This is to notify you that your email address has won you the sum of (One Million Euros) from the International Casino Online Lottery promotions. All the E-mail addresses were selected from a data base of internet e-mail users which your e-mail address came out as the winning coupon. The Expiring date of your winning prize is 30th of October, 2008. Contact our claims Agent with your Winning number above.

International Casino Online Lottery Agency.
Miss. Gillian Luz.
Director of winning claim department.
TEL: +31-630-800-322
E-MAIL: lottobv001@aim.com

Mrs. Eli Kuper.
Promotion Award Co-Coordinator.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam