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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
• Support our efforts to stop scams!
  
• How to report 419 spam to us
• What can you do when you receive 419 spam
  
  
• Spam archive, Daily index
  

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:
  • "from the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • ",000,000" (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)
• 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!

Fraud email example:

From: (sent from abused email account)
Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2008 07:05:52 +0100
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS!!!

FROM THE DESK OF E-MAIL
PROMOTIONS MANAGER
INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS/PRIZE
AWARD DEPARTMENT,
MICROSOFT CORPORATION WORLD LOTTERY
UNITED KINGDOM.



Reference No:MSW-L/327015002/07
BATCH NO: 2008 SEPTEMBER #414
WINNER NO: 17

Dear Winner,

CONGRATULATIONS!!! AS WE BRING TO YOUR
NOTICE.

The prestigious MICROSOFT CORPORATION has set out and
successfully
organised a Sweepstakes marking our profit incease we(end of
year) rolled
out over 900,000 mails (nine Hundred Thousand Email
addresses) for our end of
year Draws. Participants for the draws were randomly
selected and drawn from a
wide range of web hosts which we enjoy their patronage.

your email was attach to (CSC) Claims Security
Code:CSC-74162007-04-LV-UK
which subsequently won you a lump sum of US$1,000,000:00
(One million united-
-states dollars) payable in cash.

To file for your claims,please contact our fiducairy agent:
===============================================================================
NAME: Mrs. Veronica Woods.
EMAIL: veronicawoods@live.com
===============================================================================
You are to provide her with the following informations:

1) Your full names:
2) Your full home / office address:
3) Nationality:
4) Direct Land/phone/fax numbers:
5) Occupation / Age:
6) Sex:
7) Next of kin:
8) Amount won:
9) Marital status:

Please note that above detailed information will be
absolutely neccessary for
the processing of your payment cheques,drafts or wire
transfers.



Congratulations once again and thanks for your patronage.


Yours sincerely,
Mrs. Alexanderia Reyes
(PROMOTIONS MANAGER).

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam