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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.

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:
  • "fondazione di vittorio" (not involved with lotteries)
  • "vittorio foundation" (not involved with lotteries)
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "hundred thousand 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)
  • ",500,000" (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)
  • "00,000.00" (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)
  • "(ecowas)" (the name of a person or institution often appearing 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.
  • +2348034400926 (Nigeria, prepaid mobile phone)

Fraud email example:

From: "Fondazion Di Vittorio, ITALY " <instalgas.divis@iol.cz>
Reply-To: fdv.swankjeffx@live.com
Date: Fri, 08 Aug 2008 10:06:05 GMT
Subject: DONATION GRANT ! ! !




Fondazion Di Vittorio, ITALY
http://www.fondazionedivittorio.it
BATCH NO: (N-222-6747,E-900-56)

Congratulations as we bring to your notice, The Foundazion di Vittorio
has chosen you by the board of trustees as one of the final recipients
of a cash Grant/Donation for your own personal, educational, and
business development.

The Fondazione Di Vittorio, established 1977 by the Multi-Million
groups and now supported by the Economic Community for West African States
(ECOWAS), United Nations Organization (UNO) and the European Union (EU)
was conceived with the objective of human growth, educational,and
community development.

To celebrate the 30th anniversary program, We are giving out a yearly
donation of US$500,000.00 (Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars)
to 40 lucky recipients,
as charity donations/aid from the Vittorio Foundation, ECOWAS, EU and
the UNO in accordance with the enabling act of Parliament. which is part
of our promotion.

The draws being officially announced today and Participants were
selected through a computer ballot drawn from 2,500,000 email addresses of
individuals and companies
from all over the world as part of our International Donation Program.

To file for your claim contact,

Executive Sec. Mr.Swank Jefferson
Email: fdv.swankjeffx@live.com
Tel:+2348034400926

Note: Make sure you give him a call informing him that you sent him an
email so that he could respond to your mail immediately

Also in order to avoid unnecessary delays and complications, remember
to quote your reference number and batch numbers and the following
details; in all your correspondence with Mr Swank Jefferson

DONATION DOCUMENTATION FORM:

--- Full name and address.
--- Tel and fax number. Sex/Age.
--- Marital Status/Occupation.
--- Country/City/Zip Codes.

Note: Make sure you give him a call informing him that you sent him an
email so that he could respond to your mail immediately

Congratulations once again from all our staff and thank you for being
part of our promotions program.

Regards.
Mr. Vikki Malcom
Foundation officer.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam