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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!
  
• How to report 419 spam to us
• 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:

• 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:
  • ",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)
• 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.
  • +31610698903 (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.
  • postbremittancex@yahoo.com.hk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
  • postbremittancez@yahoo.com.hk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: (sent from abused email account)
Date: Tue, 28 Oct 2008 05:25:26 +0000
Subject: It Is Time To Celebrate-Microsoft Corporation Prize Award.


It Is Time To Celebrate-Microsoft Corporation Prize Award.

We are happy to inform you that you have emerged a winner under the Second Category of our promotion program. Winners were picked by computerized system, drawn from over 75,000,000 companies and individuals e-mail addresses worldwide. This draws were officially announced 27th of October, 2008. Your email ID has won a lump sum of € 550.000 (Five Hundred and Fifty Thousand euros) only in the second category of our computer ballot prize award. All trademarks of De Lotto are registered and protected by the Benelux trademark law.

NOTE: This compensational program was promoted and sponsored by Microsoft Corporation in conjunction with De Lotto Netherlands Jackpot. No ticket was sold in this prize award but winners were randomly selected by the Netherlands Gaming Control Board from the internet online world wide web to boost the sales of software materials in all over the world. We hope that you will have the chance of receiving compensation next free draw as you keep on browsing the net to boost the sales of software materials in all over the world. It is a great opportunity to anyone looking to increase sales through email marketing! So you can realize your dream of financial independence. Remember to always quote your winning numbers in all your correspondence with the clearance office. Your winning information are specified as follow: Ticket Number: 55 89 43 18 32, REFERENCE NUMBER: AOU/67665456/SF/2008, Security Credited File Number is SC-FN/K6765/MICROSOFT

Please contact the Verification/Remittance Department of Post Bank N.V for your prize claim:
****************************************************
Dr. Marcus Garvey (Director/Head of Verification Department).
Verification/Remittance Department (Postbank.nl)
Phone:+31-610-698-903, Fax: +31-847-301-110
Web-Site: www.postbank.nl<http://www.postbank.nl>
Email: postbremittancex@yahoo.com.hk<mailto:postbremittancex@yahoo.com.hk>
postbremittancez@yahoo.com.hk<mailto:postbremittancez@yahoo.com.hk>

****************************************************
Sincerely Yours,
Mrs. Nikki Van Grohams (Public Relation Officer)
De Lotto (Official Website: www.lotto.nl<http://www.lotto.nl>)
Tel: 0900-0202 (€ 0, 20 p/min.)

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam