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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.
• 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 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.
  • awardclaim@financemail.net (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
  • fundremittance@netscape.net (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "Joseph Shankah" <josephshankah9@sympatico.ca>
Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2006 17:00:32 +0000
Subject: WINNER VISA/MASTER CREDIT CARD LOTTERY

WINNER VISA/MASTER CREDIT CARD LOTTERY
REF. NO: PTP/79065-07855//7765
BATCH NO: PTP/8573421009//7765

Attn: Winner,

We happily announce to you the draw of the VISA/Master Card Online
Sweepstakes International program held on 2nd of March, 2006. Your e-mail
address attached to ticket number: 45-39-0075 with Serial number 9954398765
drew the lucky numbers: 90-56-83-46-23, and subsequently won in the category
A. We are pleased to inform you of the result of the just concluded annual
final draws of lottery program.

The online cyber lottery draws was conducted from an exclusive list of
35,000, E-mail addresses of individual and corporate bodies were picked by
an advanced automated random computer search from the internet from
Australia, New Zealand, Africa, Europe, North America, South America and
Asia as part our International promotions program for the year, conducted
bi-annually.

No tickets were sold. After this automated computer ballot, your e-mail
address emerged as one of the winners in the category "A" with the
following:

You have therefore been approved for a lump sum Payment of US$1,000,000.00
(ONE MILLION DOLLARS USD) in cash Credited, File No: INT/MS/1659J.

Congratulations!

Your fund is now deposited with our finance company in the Netherlands and
insured in your name. Due to the mix up of some numbers and names, we ask
that you keep this award strictly private and from public notice until your
claim have been fully processed and your total prize money remitted to your
designated bank account.

This is part of our security protocol to avoid double claiming or
unscrupulous acts by participants of this program. We hope with a part of
your prize money, you will participate in our end of year high stakes of
US$70 Million International lottery jackpot slot to be held in December
2006.

For the immediate collection and remittance of your prize money, Please
contact directly our Payment Administrator in The Netherlands:

MR:JERRY ROWLINGS
E-mail:awardclaim@financemail.net
E-mail:fundremittance@netscape.net

Your prize money must be claimed before 31st March 2006, after this date all
unclaimed funds/Winnings will be rolled over and returned back to the
treasury as Invalid. All correspondences to MR.JERRY ROWLINGS should have
this email sent along with it along with your Contact Address, Country of
residence and your E-mail address. Furthermore, should there be any change
of your Postal address, do inform our Payment Administrator as soon as
possible.

Congratulations again from all our staff and thank you for being part of our
programmed.

Yours sincerely,
Lisa Morris (Mrs.)
(Online lottery coordinator)

NOTE. Any breach of confidentiality on the part of the winners will result
to instant disqualification.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam