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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")
  • "million 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)
  • ",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)
  • "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)
• 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.
  • +2348037445335 (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.
  • d_brown1970@hotmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: (sent from abused email account)
Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2008 05:15:21 -1200
Subject: DEAR SHELL BINEFICIARY


Shell Petroleum Development Company of
Nigeria



=======================================================================================
Shell Industrial Area, Rumobiakani, Port Harcourt, Nigeria
Tel: +234 803 744 5335


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BATCH REF: OCT/008/YY

This is to inform you that you have won a prize money
of Three Million United States Dollars (US$1,000,000.00) for
the 2008 International E-mail Draw which is Organized
by Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC).

SPDC collects all the email addresses of the people
that are active online, among the millions that
subscribed to Yahoo, Aol, Walla, Gmail, Russian Mail
and Hotmail and few from other e-mail providers. Six
people are selected yearly 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
Center. Shell Award must be claimed not later than 15
days from date of Draw Notification. Any Prize not
claimed within this period will be forfeited.

Stated below is your identification number:
REFERENCE NUMBER: SPDC-081511

This numbers fall within the Nigerian Location file,
you are requested to contact our fiduciary agent in
Port Harcourt [Dr.Donald Brown] with the details
below and send your winning identification numbers to him;


E-Mail: d_brown1970@hotmail.com
TEL: +2348037445335

He shall immediately commence the process that will
facilitate the release of your fund to you.

Congratulations!! once again.

Yours in service, Dr. (Mrs.) Lynda Johnson [Publicity
Secretary]

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam