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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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• 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 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!
• 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.
  • claim_departmentaloffice1@yahoo.com

Fraud email example:

From: "wood smith" <woodsmith118@rediffmail.com>
Date: 14 May 2007 09:24:35 -0000
Subject: FROM: UNIVERSAL LOTTERY PROMO INTERNATIONAL YOU HAVE WON ONE MILLION DOLLARS(1,000,000)


FROM: UNIVERSAL LOTTERY PROMO INTERNATIONALGENEVA, SWITZERLAND.REF NUMBER: OSL/653/029/03BATCH NUMBER: AT-040-SB06-03
We are pleased to inform you,THAT AS A RESULT OF OUR RECENT LOTTERY DRAWS HELD on the 14 of May 2007
Your e-mail address attached to ticket number 27522465896-532 withserialnumber 652-662 drew lucky numbers 7-14-18-23-31-45 whichconsequently won in the 2nd category.you have therefore been approved for a lump sum pay out of 1,000,000USD(ONE MILLION DOLLARS).
Note that All participants in this lottery program have been selectedrandomlythrough a computer ballot system drawn from over 20,000companies and 30,000,000 individual email addresses from all search engines and web sites.
This promotional program takes place every year, and is promoted andsponsored by eminent personalities like the Sultan of Brunei, billgates of microsoft inc and other corporate organisations.This is to encourage the use of the internet and computers worldwide.
To enable us file in your name for payment,please do provide thefollowing informations:1,YOUR FULL NAME: ................2,YOUR SEX:..................3,YOUR TELEPHONE NUMBER .........4,YOUR FAX NUMBER:...............5,YOUR OCCUPATION:....................6,YOUR COMPANY: ................7,YOUR AGE:..........8,Country And Home adresses:..........................9,YOUR REF NUMBER:............You are to send all the information\'s to the lottery office.Name:jenifer alfredE-mail:claim_departmentaloffice1@yahoo.com Furthermore, should there be any change of address do inform&nbsp; our agent as soon as possible. Congratulations once more and thank you for being part of our&nbsp; promotional program.
NOTE: YOU ARE AUTOMATICALLY DISQUALIFIED IF YOU ARE BELOW 18 YEARS OF AGE. yours&nbsp; Sincerely,
MR WOOD SMITH(LOTTERY CO-ORDINATOR)GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam