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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
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• Frequently asked Questions (419 FAQ)
• Phone numbers used by 419 scammers
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• Company names mentioned in 419 spam:
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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:

• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "barrister" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
• 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!
• Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.
• 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.
  • +31623075672 (Netherlands, 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.
  • barristerharryherman@mail.lawguru.com

Fraud email example:

From: bingolottointl@netscape.net
Date: Wed, 28 Jun 2006 05:25:22 -0400
Subject: Be informed.


Attn: VICTIM-FULLNAME.

Be informed that this lottery promotion was conducted through the Internet worldwide random selection, the participants and winners where picked randomly through a computer ballot system and you have been picked as one of the lucky winners with the below information;

Reference Number; AKM/231-ILGI043/06
Batch Number: AKM/15/096/TVFS
Ticket Number; 20511465463-7644
Serial Number; 472-9768-98
Lucky Number; 8-66-97-22-65-99
Amount Won; ?1, 000, 000, 00 (One million euros)

To file claim of your winnings you are to contact the appointed lawyer to notarize your forms and acquire your Certificate of Award from the Netherlands Gaming Control Board.

After the above process, your certificate of award and your notarized forms will be forwarded to the bank for approval of your winnings, and instruction will be given to the financial firm to contact and pay you.

Below is the contact information of the legal representative.

Barrister Harry Herman
Legal representative
Tel: +31-623-075-672
Fax: +31-847-558-932
Email: barristerharryherman@mail.lawguru.com
Beeklaan 317
2562 AJ Den Haag,
The Netherlands.

Best regards,

Mr. Pascal Green
Claim Processing Agent.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam