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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:

• 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.
  • +448715039934 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: Richard Ken <monella@networld.at> (may be fake)
Reply-To: richard_pbwins@live.com
Date: Fri, 6 Feb 2009 04:40:23 -0800
Subject: This is for your attention!!!


Powerball Corporation.
Award Department

Attn: Prize Winner

Congratulations!!! Your email has won you (£520,000.00GBP)
in the Powerball EMAIL DRAW held on 5th of February, 2009.
In your acceptance of this award, we request that you kindly forward
your letter of acceptance, your current telephone and fax numbers,
Full Names and a forwarding address to enable us file necessary
documents with the gaming board for the release of this sum of money.
You are to indicate how you want your winnings

(1) BY COURIER DELIVERY OF YOUR PRIZE: ... [.....]
(2) BANK PAYMENT TRANSFER|ONLINE ACCOUNT TRANSFER........ [.....]

Sincerely,
Dr.Richard Ken
Contact Email: richard_pbwins@live.com
Tel: +44 871-503-9934
Powerball Award Department/Claims Office

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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam