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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.

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")
  • ",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.
  • +2348033449089 (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.
  • lothou1@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: lotto house <househjjw@msn.com>
Reply-To: <lothou1@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 2 Mar 2009 23:45:30 +0000
Subject: From Mrs.Ken Obiorah Desk.



>From Mrs.Ken Obiorah Desk.


WINNING NUMBERS:37-13-43-85-67-11.BV
REF:S6376527711
BATCH:S7151085135

Attn: WINNER,


We are please to announce to you as one of the 10 lucky winners in National the Free Lotto draw held on the 2nd MARCH 2009. All 10 winning addresses were randomly selected from a batch of 50,000,000 International emails. Your email address emerged alongside 9 others as a category one winner in this year's Annual FreeLotto Draw. Consequently,you have therefore been approved for a total pay out of $1.500,00USD(one million, Five hundred Thuosand (Dollars only)CONGRATULATIONS!!! Due to mix up of some numbers and names, we ask that you keep your winning information confidential until your claims has been processed and your money Remitted to you. please Call or
email our fiduciary agent with the below details for processing of your claims:


NAME:DR FRANK WILLIAMS.
(CHIEF FINANCIAL DIRECTOR
NATIONAL LOTTERY NIGERIA LTD.)
Tele:234-803-3449089
EMAIL:(lothou1@gmail.com)


Remember, all winning must be claim there fund not later than 15th MARCH 2009.After this date all unclaimed funds will be included in the next stake.Please note in order to avoid unnecessary delays and Complications please remember to quote your reference number and batch numbers in all correspondence.

Yours faithfully,

Mrs. Ken Obiorah.
AFRO-ASIAN Zonal Coordinator.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam