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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!
  
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• 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:

• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "with your full names" (a common phrase found 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!

Fraud email example:

From: "PROGRAM 2009"<Opportunity@spanishsp.com.es>
Reply-To: <infogrupocatalan@aim.com>
Date: Sun, 12 Jul 2009 19:51:56 +0200
Subject: SPANISH INTERNATIONAL E-MAIL AWARD PROMOTION PROGRAM 2009

INTERNATIONAL LOTTERY COMMISSION

Attn: Lucky Winner,

Your email address drew and has won you the sum of 615,810
Euros(Six Hundred and Fifteen Thousand Eight Hundred and Ten Euros)in
SPANISH INTERNATIONAL E-MAIL AWARD PROMOTION PROGRAM 2009 in cash credited
to file with WINNING REFERENCE NUMBER: ESP/WIN/008/05/10/MA; BATCH
NUMBER:EURO/1007/444/606/08; LUCKY NUMBER:23-7-2-6-12-9; SERIAL
NUMBER:6594; and PROMOTION DATE : 9th July 2009.please contact the
appointed agent directly with your full names,telephone numbers and fax (If available) below:

GRUPO CATALANA OCCIDENTE S.A.
MR. JONATHAN FERDNANDO GOMEZ
TEL:003-462-279-8894
FAX:003-493-550-4495
Email: grupocataLana@LuckymaiL.com

Congratulations once again from all our staff.

Mrs. Patricia Douet (co-ordinator )
Internation Lottery commission Board.
Madrid, 10th July 2009

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam