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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!
  
• How to report 419 spam to us
• 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:
  • "claim 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!
• This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
  • +27839551248 (South Africa, prepaid mobile phone)
• 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.
  • dr.larsongilbertzuma@gmail.com

Fraud email example:

From: "Lynda Williams" <info.03.nationallottery.org@hotmail.com>
Date: Tue, 27 Jun 2006 14:30:22 +0200
Subject: CONTACT YOUR CLAIM AGENT NOW

Attention.

We are very sorry, but to let you know that our company are not scaming people,that if you won anything in our company what you have to do now is contact your claim agent now for him to start the claim on your behalf.

His detgails are follows bello:

Direct number is +27 83 955 1248

E-mail address is     dr.larsongilbertzuma@gmail.com

His name is Dr. Larson Gilbert Zuma

He is the new agent to the winners do contact him with all this information bellow:

Your name in full

your Current Addresses

Your country and of origin

Your marrital status, age and sex.

Your winning detail such as reference and batch, ticket numbers

Your phone and fax numbers for easy communication.

 

Contact him now for your onw good to avoid any delay.

WE CONGRATULATE YOU ONCE MORE FROM ALL THE STAFF

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Want to see who's on the other side? Chat via video on Windows Live Messenger!

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam