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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:
  • "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)
  • "ecowas " (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
  • "abuja" (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.
  • +2348050519427 (Nigeria, prepaid mobile phone)

Fraud email example:

From: "ECOWAS DONATIO 2009" <ecowas@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: <ecowas_donation2008@hotmail.com>
Date: Mon, 23 Feb 2009 10:14:42 -0600
Subject: CONGRATULATION!!! CASH GRANT



Ecowas Donations 2009
101 Yakubu Gowon Cresent
Asokoro District P.M.B. 401
Abuja, Nigeria.
Tel: +2348050519427
+2348024904010
Visit our website on :www.ecowas.int

This is to inform you that you have won a prize
money of One Million United States Dollars, ($1,000,000.00)
for the year 2009 Lottery promotion which is organized by
ECOWAS DONATIONS 2009.

ECOWAS DONATIONS 2009, collects all the
email addresses of the people that are active online,
among the millions that subscribed to the Internet.we
only select five people every Year as our winners through
electronic balloting System without the winner
applying,we congratulate you for being one of the people selected.

You are to contact the events manager on or
before your date of Claim, Winners Shall be paid
in accordance with his/her Settlement Centre.Ecowas
Donations Prize must be claimed no later than 10 days
from date of Draw Notification after the Draw date in
which Prize has won. Any prize not claimed
within this period will be forfeited.

These are your identification numbers:

Batch number.....................ECW 09102XN
Reff number.......................ECW35447XN
Winning number...................ECW09788

These numbers fall within your Location file,
you are requested to contact the events manager/Claims Department,
send your winning identification numbers to him,to enable him verify
your claims.

(CONTACT FINANCE DEPARTMENT)
Name:Mr.Fred William
E-mail:
TEL:+2348050519427
+2348024904010
Thank you and Accept my hearty congratulations once again!

Yours faithfully,
Mrs.Andrea Florence Nima
(Ecowas Donations Games/Lottery Coordinator).

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam