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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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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:
  • "australian lottery" (can only win this lottery if you bought a ticket)
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
  • ",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)
• 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.
  • +2347037174515
• 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.
  • rev_martin.smith@hotmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: Australian Lottery Board Inc <auslinc5@msn.com>
Reply-To: <australianlotteryboardi@yahoo.es>
Date: Mon, 25 Aug 2008 13:16:57 +0000
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS YOUR EMAIL HAS WON $1.5M USD - CONTACT CLAIMS AGENT
IMMEDIATELY!!!




Australian Lottery Inc.


6123 Pitte Street


Sydney 34587, Australia.


Date: 25/08/2008





Ref No: 475061725


Batch No:705649/188


Winning No: GB8101/LP.





CONGRATULATIONS!!!





Dear Sir/Madam,





We are delighted to inform you of your Winning prize release in the


month of August, 2008 draw from the Australian International Lottery


pro gramme. Which is fully based on an electronic selection of winners


using their e-mail addresses from some sites.Your email address was


attached to ticket number; 17212, serial number 7741137002 This batch


draws the lucky numbers as follows 8-3-82-42bonus number 17,which


consequently won the lottery in the second category.





You hereby have been approved a lump sum payment of US$1,500,000.00 (ONE


MILLION FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS) in cash credited to file


ref:ILP/HW


47509/08 from the total cash prize shared amongst eight lucky winners


in this category. All participants were selected through a computer


balloting system drawn from Nine hundred thousand E-mail addresses from


Canada, Australia, United States, Asia, Europe, Middle East, Africa and


Oceania as part of our international promotions program which is


conducted annually.





This Lottery is promoted and sponsored by a conglomerate of


multinational companies as part of their social responsibility to the


citizens in the communities where they have


operational bases. Further more your details(e-mail address) falls


within our European


representative office in Amsterdam,Holland as indicated in your play


coupon and your prize of US$1,500,000.00 will be released to you from


the regional branch office in Nigeria. We hope with part of your prize,


you will participate in our end of year high stakes for US $7.3 Million


international draw.





HOW TO CLAIM YOUR AUSTRALIAN WINNING PRIZE .





Simply Contact Our Fiducial Agent


Name: Reverend Martins Smith


Email: rev_martin.smith@hotmail.com


Phone: +234-703-717-4515





to file in for your claim. Please quote your reference,batch and


winning number which can be found on the top left corner of this


notification as well as your full names, address and telephone number


to help locate your file easily.





For security reasons, we advice all winners to keep this information


confidential from the public until your claim is processed and your


prize released to you. This is part of our security protocol to avoid


double claiming and unwarranted taking advantage of this pro gramme by


non-participants or unofficial personnel. Note, all winnings MUST be


claimed within the next 30 working days of receiving this message


otherwise all funds will be returned as Unclaimed and eventually


donated to charity organization.





Congratulations once again on your winnings.





Best regard,





Mrs. Gail Scanlon,


(Lottery


Co-ordinator).

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam