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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
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• 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:

• The following fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
  • "microsoft lottery"
• 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: mapfreseguross22@netscape.net
Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2006 09:15:40 -0400
Subject: Congratulation..

FROM THE OFFICE OF THE PROMOTION MANAGER.
MICROSOFT LOTTERY INTERNATIONAL PROMOTION.
RE:AWARD NOTIFICATION.

THIS IS TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE RECIEPT OF YOUR RESPONSE OVER THE LOTTERY
AWARD.

YOU ARE TO FORWARD TO THIS OFFICE THE FOLLOWING INFORMATIONS:

1. FILE NUMBER:............................
2. BATCH NUMBER:
3. REFERENCE NUMBER:............................
4. WINNING NUMBER:............................
5. CATEGORY:............................
6. AMOUNT WON:............................
7a. FULL NAME:(MR/MRS)
b. TEL AND FAX NUMBER:............................
8. CITY/COUNTRY:............................
9. ADDRESS:............................
10. OCCUPATION/ORGANISATION:............................
11. POSITION :............................
12. DATE OF BIRTH:............................
13. PRIVATE EMAIL ADDRESS:............................

ON THE COMFIRMATION OF THE ABOVE INFORMATION, WE WILL GIVE YOU THE CONTACT DETAILS OF THE BANK THAT WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE PAYMENT OF YOUR AWARD.

THEREAFFTER,YOU WILL BE ISSUED WITH A CLAIM CERTIFICATE OF WINNING THAT WILL BE USED FOR THE CLAIM OF THE MONEY FROM YOUR BANK,AFTER GETTING CLEARANCE FROM THE PROTOCOL UNIT AND MINISTERIO DE INTERIO HERE IN SPAIN.

NOTE:YOU ARE TO KEEP THIS AWARD OUT FROM PUBLIC NOTICE TO AVOID DUBBL REPRESENTATION.YOU MUST ABSOLUTLY BE CONFIDENTIAL UNTILL THE BANK TRANSFFERED YOUR FUND INTO YOUR NOMINATED ACCOUNT.

CONGRATULATIONS ONCE AGAIN.
THANKS

Mr. Benjamin Alfonso.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam