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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:
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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.

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Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

• An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "lagos" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
• 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.
  • +2348059466382 (Nigeria, 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.
  • agent_jmartins@yahoo.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: Canadian Lottery Lottolore <lore_01@hotmail.co.uk>
Reply-To: <agent_jmartins@yahoo.com>
Date: Fri, 14 Sep 2007 03:44:53 +0000
Subject: Winning notification Canadian lottery {Lotto lore}


Canadian lottery {Lotto lore}
Essex,United Kingdom
http://lottolore.com/lotto649.html
Check our website for correspondence of your winning number.
---------------------------------------------------
Subject: Winning notification
---------------------------------------------------
Dear Winner,
We happily announce to you the result of the National Lotto 6/49 lottery draws held on Wed, September 12, 2007 ,in Essex United Kingdom.
All participants were selected randomly from World Wide Web-site through computer draws system and extracted from over 10,000,00 companies and personal e-mail addresses. Your e-mail address attached to ticket number: B9564-75604545-100 with serial number 046560 drew the winning 10 11 16 21 24 38 Bonus 23 You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of US$ 820,000 in cash credited to file EAAL/9080118308/07. Please note that your lucky winning numbers fall within our African booklet representative office in Lagos Nigeria as indicated in your play coupon.
In view of this, your US$ 820,000 would be released to you by an accredited commercial Bank in Africa. Our African agent will immediately commence the process to facilitate the release of your funds as soon as you contact their office.
To file for your claim, please contact our corresponding agent in Africa immediately you read this message for
quick and urgent release of your fund, contact information is as follows: -
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contact:
Mr. Martins Johnson
Lotto Lore canadian lottery
African Representative
Plot 34 Walter Carrington Crescent
Victoria Island
Lagos Nigeria
Email: agent_jmartins@yahoo.com
Tel: +234-805-946-6382
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Congratulations once more from all members and staff of this program
to all that have successfully won this competition and thank you for
being part of our promotional lottery program.
Yours Sincerely,
Mrs. Patricia Hope
Customer Service: 680 NCA 85914
_________________________________________________________________
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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam