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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:
  • "million united states dollars" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
• 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: Pro-Civil Online Lottery <procivil@cooltoad.com>
Date: Fri, 26 Jan 2007 09:27:18 -0800
Subject: You have Won!!


PRO-CIVIL LOTTERY ONLINE.
LOTTERY AND GAMING CORPORATION,
ONTARIO CANADA,
WINNING NUMBER: ANL/BNK/0310878

OUR DEAR WINNER,

YOU WERE SELECTED AS THE PRIZE WINNER OF THE SUM OF USD 2,000,000:00 (TWO MILLION UNITED STATES DOLLARS) BY THE PRO-CIVIL LOTTERY AND GAMING ORPORATION. YOUR WINNING EMAIL ADDRESS WAS SELECTED FROM A DATA BASE OF INTERNET E-MAIL USERS AND ADDRESSES, FROM WHICH YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS CAME OUT AS THE WINNING COUPON, AND FALLS WITHIN OUR AFRICA PAYMENT REGION.

WE HEREBY INITIATE THIS CONTACT FOR YOU TO CLAIM YOUR WINNING AMOUNT QUICKLY. FAILURE TO CLAIM YOUR WINNING WILL RESULT INTO THE REVERSION OF THE WINNING SUM TO OUR FOLLOWING QUARTER. PLEASE CONTACT YOUR APPROVED AGENT MR JEFFERSON OBEDI FOR YOUR REGION WITH YOUR WINNING NUMBER AND
THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION BY EMAIL: jfobedi@cooltoad.com

FULL NAME:
ADDRESS:
TELEPHONE AND FAX NUMBERS
NATIONALITY:
OCCUPATION:
AGE:

ON BEHALF OF MY CORPORATION, I HEREBY CONGRATULATE YOU ON YOUR WINNING.

CYRIL STOBER
ZONAL CORDINATOR
PRO-CIVIL LOTTERY ONLINE
LOTTERY & GAMING CORPORATION
ONTARIO CANADA.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam