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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:
  • "fiduciary agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
• 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: Microsoft aol Lottery Board <lotteryboardm@yahoo.co.nz>
Reply-To: davidjames_attorneys@gala.net
Date: Tue, 22 Sep 2009 03:14:43 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: MICROSOFT AOL LOTTERY WINNER AWARD NOTIFICATION [ Congratulations ]



                           MICROSOFT
AOL LOTTERY PROGRAMME AWARD 2009
                                   
From: Linda
Rose
Microsoft Award Team
20 Craven Park
,
Harlesden,
London,NW10,England,
United Kingdom.
 
 
                              
CONGRATULATIONS! CONGRATULATIONS!!
 
Attention: Dear Lucky
Winner,
 
We happily announce to you the draw of the Microsoft and America
Online [aol] Sweepstake Lottery International Program held  last month marking
the year 2009 anniversary .We rolled out over US$ 400,419,864 (Four Hundred
Million Four Hundred & Nineteen Thousand Eight Hundred & Sixty Four
Dollars)for our end of year anniversary draws. Participants for the draws were
randomly selected  and drawn from a wide range of web hosts which we enjoy their
patronage. The selection was made through a computer draw system attaching
personalised email addresses to ticket numbers.. If you ignore this, you will
regret it later. Microsoft and Aol are now the largest internet companies and in
an effort to make sure that internet explorer remains the most widely used
program, Microsoft and Aol are running an e-mail data test. Your email address
as indicated was drawn and attached to Reference and Ticket number 008795727498
with Serial numbers Btd/9080648302/07,Ref: Btd/968/05,Batch: 409978e and drew
the lucky numbers 14/21/25/39/40/47 Bonus Ball:20 which subsequently won you
£1,350,000.00 (One Million Three Hundred And Fifty Thousand Great Britain
Pounds)  as one of the 5 jackpot winners in this draw. You have therefore won
the entire winning sum of £1,350,000.00 (One Million Three Hundred and Fifty
Thousand Great Britain Pounds) in the second category, and therefore fall within
our African booklet representative office in Africa [South Africa].The draws
registered as draw number one was conducted in Brockley, London, England, United
Kingdom three days ago. These draws are commemorative and as such
special.                
 
As part of our security protocol you
are to quote this security code msw/feb/xx07 to your claiming agent, this
is to prevent scam. Please be informed by this winning notification, to file
your claims, you are to make contact with your designated agent who shall by
duty guide you through the process to facilitate the release of your prize. To
file for your claim please contact your African fiduciary agent in South Africa
with the contact information below:
 
David James, James &
Associates. 
Solicitors, Conveyancers & Notary Public
Email: davidjames_attorneys@gala.net  davidjamesattorneys@live.com  
4th floor,
Elephant House,107 Market Street Cnr Von Williegh ,
2001,Tel: + 27-
782-865-151,Post Address P.O.Box
61618,
Marshalltown,2107,Johannesburg,Republic Of South
Africa.
 
Our special thanks and gratitude to Bill Gates and his
associates. We wish you the best of luck as you spend your good fortune in this
season.Note: please be informed that all winning must be claimed on or before 30
days from the date of receipt of this notification or you may forfeit your
winning. To avoid unnecessary delays and complications, please quote your
Reference/Batch numbers in any correspondences with our designated agents or us.
In compliance with the sponsoring bodies, you are to make a remittance of a part
of your won fund, not lower than 10-percent, after receiving your
allocation to a charity organisation. Thank you for being part of our
commemorative end of year anniversary draws.
 
Sincerely Yours,
Linda Rose {Mrs]
Microsoft Promotion Team
Vice
President 
 

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam