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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.

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Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

• 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: agentciro@netscape.net
Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2006 07:22:28 -0400
Subject: form to fill

Dear Sir,
We wish to bring you to notice that, our office as Regional coordinators of the Canada Lottery Soccer World Cup 2010 Promotional draw in italy has been duly notified of your winnings of US$1.000,000.00 Euro-Afro-American Sweepstake Lottery International draws held on the 1 May 2006 by drawing the lucky numbers 5/11/20/23/27/28 with a bonus Number 42, for LOTTO 6/49 under the choice of the lottery in the 2nd category of daily three. Be further notified that before we commence with your payment, our headquarters in Ontario Canada requires that we make verifications before transferring your prize winnings to you. Hence we have attached an "A VERIFICATION FORM to this e-mail, which you must fill in. We would like you to fill the form carefully and return it to us as soon as possible this is to enable us to process your file with immediate effect. It will be very important that no errors are made, to avoid suspicion or any fraudulence. Be sure that all the information you give is correct to avoid loosing your p
rize. Once we receive the form with your details, we will forward it to Canada for? approval? (confirmation of you as right winner). Then our office here will proceed to send to you, all the relevant documents for your claims and give you more information on how to transfer your prize money. NOTE: YOU ARE REQUIRED TO PRINT OUT THIS FORM AND FILL IT WITH A BLACK PEN, THEN SCAN AND ATTACH IT BACK TO US FOR VERIFICATION. FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT US ON 00393336901871, Here is the information we need:
Date:
Your name:
Ticket NO: Batch No:
Serial NO: File NO:
Winning No:
Your home or office address:
Country: Business Name/Company Name:
Phone and fax number:
Agent ciro. Respond immediately.
Once more, Congratulations.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam