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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:

• 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:
  • "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
• 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.
  • +31624851552 (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.
  • cybermicrostaatinfo@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: amanda valdez <amanvall014@msn.com>
Reply-To: <cybermicrostaatinfo@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 7 Mar 2009 21:10:49 +0000
Subject: YOU HAVE WON:FILE YOUR CLAIM



YOU HAVE WON:FILE YOUR CLAIM

Dear sir/madam,
We are happy to inform you that you have emerged a winner under the First Category of our world wide cyber microsoft/Staat software Promotion.
Winners were picked by computerized system, drawn from company and individual e-mail addresses worldwide.The draws is officially announced today
07th of March,2009.You have therefore been awarded alump sum pay out of €500,000(Five Hundred Thousand Euros).Find below your Reference and Batch numbers.Remember to quote these
numbers in your correspondence to our claim Department.
REFERENCE NUMBER: LSLUK/4034/8161/04
BATCH NUMBER: 15/011/IPD
contact claim department immediately for due processing and remittance of your prize money to a designated account of your choice:
Dr.Goodluck Gazenhoof
TEL:+31-624-851-552
FAX:+31-847-522-118
Email:cybermicrostaatinfo@gmail.com

Sincerely Yours,
Mrs.Amanda Valdez.
PROMOTION CORDINATOR

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam