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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
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• 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:

• An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
• The following fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
  • "national lottery promotion" (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")
  • "claims office" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "part of our security protocols" (a common phrase found 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 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.
  • claiming_officer2@yahoo.fr (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: lot prom <lot_prom24@hotmail.fr>
Reply-To: <claiming_officer2@yahoo.fr>
Date: Tue, 6 Nov 2007 15:59:04 +0000
Subject: CONGRATULATION!!! CONGRATULATION!!! CONGRATULATION!!!



THE DESK OF THE VICE PRESIDENT (Andrew Fleg)NATIONAL LOTTERY PROMOTIONS/PRIZE GIVING AWARDAVENUE KWAME N'KRUMAHOUAGADOUGOU BURKINA FASO.DEAR LUCKY WINNER!!!We are pleased to inform you of the result of the INTERNATIONAL POOLS LOTTERY RAFFLE DRAW International programs held on the 18th of MAY,2007. Your e-mail address was attached to the following.Ticket Number 6325698-44596-222Serial Number 410-32659Lucky Numbers 4014-236985744-596Which consequently won in the 2nd category, you have therefore been approved for lump sum payment of 950,000.00 euros. (Nine Hundred and fiftythousand Euros).CONGRATULATIONS!!Due to mix up of some numbers and names, we ask that you keep your winning information confidential until your claim has been processed and your money remitted to you.This is part of our security protocols to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program by some participants, All participants were selected through a computer ballot system drawn from over 20,000 company and 30,000, individual's email addresses from all over the world. This promotional program takes place every year and was promoted and sponsored by (International software organisation committee and national lottery united kingdom), we hope with part of your winning you will take part in our next year (1 million) international lottery.To file for your claim, please contact our claim agent Email: (claiming_officer2@yahoo.fr)CONGRATULATION!!!Contact your claim agent for due processing and remittance of your prize money to a designatedaccount of your choice. Remember, you must contact your claims officer not later than20 of NOV 2007. After this date all funds will be returned as unclaimed.NOTE: In order to avoid unnecessary delays and complications, please remember to quote your reference numbers in every one of your correspondences with your officers.Furthermore, should there be any change of your address, do inform your claims officer as soon as possible.Congratulations again from all our staff and thank you for being part of our promotions program.We wish you continued good fortunes.Best regards.Andrew Fleg
_________________________________________________________________
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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam