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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:

• An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "fiduciary agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "million british pounds" (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.
  • +447031854543 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
• 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.
  • mrdvs.williams@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: The Awards Committee <prizesupervisor147161@msn.com>
Reply-To: <mrdvs.williams@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 23 Mar 2009 07:35:46 +0000
Subject: RE: CONGRATULATIONS!









Micro-soft Innovator Award
30 Cleveland Street London W1T 4JD United Kingdom
Ref: BTD/968/07
Batch: 409978E

Dear Email User,

MICRO-SOFT PRESENTS HILL TEAM WITH INNOVATOR AWARD

This is to inform you that your email has won a consolations prize of the Microsoft year anniversary Corporation EMAIL DRAW held March 14, 2009. Your email has won you £1,000, 000.00 (One Million British Pounds Sterling). To claim your prize, you are advised to contact your Fiduciary Agent Mr. Davis Williams with the following details to avoid unnecessary delays and complications:

============================== ========================

NAME (IN FULL):
ADDRESS:
NATIONALITY:
SEX:
AGE:
PHONE/MOBILE:
FAX:
OCCUPATION:
COMPANY:
REF/BATCH NUMNBER:
============================== ========================

Contact your Fiduciary Agent via email immediately within 24hrs. You are obliged to donate 10% of your winning to any listed charity organization in Africa .

Name: Mr. Davis Williams
Tel: +44703 185 4543 /+44703 185 5746
Email: mrdvs.williams@gmail.com

Sincerely,
Mrs. Margaret Schumann
Micro-soft Promotion Team

*********************************************************** ***********************************************************
You may also receive similar e-mails from people portraying to be other Organizations or Microsoft Inc. This is solely to collect your personal information from you and lay claim over your notification letter that was sent to you, Kindly forward a copy to us and delete it from your mail box and give no further correspondence to such person or body.

Microsoft shall not be held responsible for any loss of fund arising from the above mentioned.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam