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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
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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 fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
  • "yahoo lottery inc" (no such lottery exists)
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "claim agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • ",000,000" (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)
  • "cheque " (Beware of any scheme that involves cashing checks or money orders and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere - you'll be liable for the entire amount if the checks or money orders turn out to be fake, even after you have received and forwarded cash. If it's a lottery prize, remember that real lotteries do not pay large prizes by check. They wire the money directly to your bank account and you do not pay for that. Many scammers promise a large check only in order to then demand payment of courier fees for a fake courier service. )
• 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.
  • db2gods@yahoo.com

Fraud email example:

From: YAHOO HOTMAIL ORANGE LOTTO BONANZA <yaholotobonanza@hotmail.com>
Date: Wed, 29 Aug 2007 08:54:04 +0000
Subject: YOU WON THE YAHOO,HOTMAIL, ORANGE AWARD 2007 CONGRATULATIONS!!!...



Dear Customer,

This is to inform you that you have won a prize money of OneMillion pounds Sterlings Only (£1,000,000.00) for the Year 2007 Lottery promotion which is organized by YAHOO LOTTERY INC for the introduction of the new YAHOO BETA MAIL which all YAHOO users are required to switch onto.
YAHOO! , HOTMAIL, ORANGE & MICROSOFT WINDOWS, arranged and gather all the e-mail addresses of the people that are active online, among the millions that subscribed to Yahoo, Hotmail and Orange massengers, We only select FIVE (5) candidates per annually as our winners through Electronic Balloting System (EBS) without the candidate applying, we congratulate you for being one of the people selected.

PAYMENT OF PRIZE AND CLAIM

We are sorry that your Payment Approval File was sent to Africa due to we have 4 lucky winners in Africa so that you can be cleared and paid simultaneously there. You are to contact our Location Claim Agent on or before your date of Claim.

Yahoo Beta Lottery Prize must be claimed not later than 14 days from date of Draw Notification after the Draw date in which Prize has won.

Note: Any prize not claimed within this period (14 days) will be forfeited.

These are your identification numbers:

Batch number......................YBM-EBS-390AF Reff number........................YBM-EBS-719AF Winning number..................YBM-EBS-798AF

These numbers above fall within the agent's Location file, You are requested to contact the Agent and send him your Identification Numbers and Personal Information as stated.

Dr Dennis Brown
E-mail: db2gods@yahoo.com


You are therefore advised to send the following information to him to facilitate them and proceed on how your payment will made immediately to you on your choosing the mode of receving of your prize fund below with our appointed paying bank there in Africa.

Send your Identification Numbers including Your Personal Information to him immediately:

Personal Information
1. Full name..................
2. Country.................... 3. Contact Address........... 4. Telephone Number......... 5. Marital Status.............. 6. Occupation.................. 7. Age.........................
8. Sex.........................
Congratulations once again. Yours in service,





We hope you're enjoying your new Yahoo! Mail account.
Now take the next step and claim your money and say thanks to Yahoo!.
You select how to transfer the prize money to you:




Cheque Delivery To Your Choosing Address.


Bank Swift Transfer To Your Designated Account.
_________________________________________________________________
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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam