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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 fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
  • "euroafriq lotto award" (no such lottery exists)
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "claim agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "cotonou" (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.
  • +22997046911 (Benin, probably a prepaid mobile phone)

Fraud email example:

From: =?utf-8?q?Office=20File?= <office.fil08@yahoo.com.co>
Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2009 18:04:15 -0800 (PST)
Subject: INTERNATIONAL LOTTO ORGANIZATION


¡Tengo nueva dirección de correo!Ahora puedes escribirme a:office.fil08@yahoo.com.co



- INTERNATIONAL LOTTO ORGANIZATION Vour Mousque Bp Ponto 4B 32258, Cotonou Republic du Benin UNCLAIMED LOTTO PRIZE PAYMENT NOTICE.ATTENTION TO THE OWNER OF THIS EMAIL ADDRESS; Winner in the 2nd category of our Euroafriq free Net Lottery Promotional award draws held January 6th 2009.I am writing in respect to your lotto winning prize of $2.450,810.00(Two Million Four Hundred and Fifty Thousand Eight Hundred and Ten US Dollars only) which you won through the email ballot draws in our Euroafriq Lotto Award 2009 in the second category prize winnings category.We wish to inform you that your total prize money of $2.450,810.00 has been returned to us by our Lotto claim agent as unclaimed prize after their initial letter to your address for your payment was not successful.You are here by requested to contact our Treasury Office on telephone +229-9704-6911 or email: (lttotreasuryoffic@live.fr) for your immediate payment. Our Treasury officer's name is Richard Peterson, so refer this to him and contact him immediately for your unclaimed lotto prize payment to you. You should contact our Treasury Officer as directed above for your payment, and do notify me as soon as you received your payment from our Treasurer.Thanks, Dr. Martin Luis Sanchez. President; Int'l Lotto Org.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam