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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
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• 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 phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "ecowas " (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
  • "abuja" (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.
  • +2348066635895 (Nigeria, prepaid mobile phone)
  • +2348033831286 (Nigeria, prepaid mobile phone)

Fraud email example:

From: "ECOWAS DONATIONS 2008" <economic_cooperations@live.com>
Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2008 04:30:56 -0500
Subject: Winning number...................ECW09788(CONGRATULATIONS!!!)

Ecowas Donations 2008
101 Yakubu Gowon Cresent
&n bsp; Abuja, Nigeria.
Tel: +23480-666-35-895.

This is to inform you that you have won a prize money of
Eight Hundred
and fifty thousand United States Dollars, ($850,000.00) for
this year 2008
Lottery promotion which is organized by ECOWAS DONATIONS
2008.

ECOWAS DONATIONS 2008, collects all the email addresses of
the
people that are active online, among the millions that
subscribed to
the Internet.we only select five people every Year as our
winners
through electronic balloting System without the winner
applying,we
congratulate you for being one of the people selected.
These are your
identification numbers:

Batch number.....................ECW 09102XN
Reff number.......................ECW35447XN
Winning number...................ECW09788

These numbers fall within your Location file, you are
requested to
contact the events manager/Claims Department, send your
winning
identification numbers to him,to enable him verify your
claims.
You must call +234-80-33831286 for confirmation and to
speak
with the claims agent(Dr. Tude Adewale)

(CONTACT FINANCE DEPARTMENT)

Name:Dr. Tude Adewale
Tel: +234-80-33831286
E-mail: economic_cooperations@live.com

THIS FORM SHOULD BE FILED BY THE LOTTERY WINNER OF THE
STATED
FUND FOR VERIFICATION BEFORE PROCESSING THE LOTTERY WINNING:

FULL NAME:...................................
RESIDENTIAL ADDRESS:.........................
OCCUPATION:..................................
DATE AND PLACE OF BIRTH:.....................
COUNTRY OF RESIDENCE:........................
TEL NO:......................................
FAX:.........................................
EMAIL:.......................................
WINNIN GNUMBER:...............................
BATCH NUMBER:................................
REFF NUMBER:.................................

Thank you and Accept my hearty congratulations once again!
Yours faithfully,
Mrs.Mary Jones.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam