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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
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• 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:
  • "from the desk of" (a common phrase found 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!

Fraud email example:

From: "Martins Young" <martinsyoung5@msn.com>
Reply-To: luckywinners350@350.com
Date: Fri, 30 Sep 2005 17:55:19 +0000
Subject: CONGRATULATION YOU WON!!!

>From the Desk of the Director
International Promotion / Prize Award Dept.
REF NO: WR/2311786008/01
BATCH: 14/011/IPD

Dear Winner,

WINNING NOTIFICATION / FINAL NOTICE.

We are pleased to inform you of the release of 26th
August, 2005, of
the Loto
Sweepstakes International program, your personal or
company email
address
attached to ticket number 205-11465886-629 with
serial number 3772-99
drew
lucky numbers 7-14-17-23-31-44 which consequently
won the lottery in
the
2nd category.

You have therefore,been approved for a lump sum
payout of
$960,000.00(Nine
hundred and sixty thousand dollars) in cash credited
to file Ref.No
ELG/2311786008/01. This is from a total cash prize
of U.S.$11million
shared
among several international lucky winners in this
category.

CONGRATULATIONS.
Your fund is now deposited with our Security
Department to your name
and
due to mix up of some numbers and names, we ask that
you keep this
winning
private from public notice until your claim has been
processed.

All participants were selected through a computer
ballot system drawn
from
over 500,000 company and individual email addresses
from all over the
world
as part of our international promotions
programme,which takes place
every
year.

NOTE:
In order to avoid unnecessary delays and
complications please
remember to
quote your refrence and batch numbers in all
correspondence with your
agent.


Anybody under the age of 18 years is automatically
disqualified.

HOW TO CLAIM.
In order to claim your prize, email us your
telephone number
and a copy of your legal identification in the form
of a drivers
license
or passport.

Best regards,

Mr.Martins Young

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam