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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

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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:

• 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 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.
  • agentlouis@myway.com

Fraud email example:

From: "new mexico lottery" <newmexicolottery2005@msn.com>
Date: Sun, 09 Oct 2005 23:33:26 +0000
Subject: WINNING INFORMATION:

New Mexico Lottery Headquarters:
Palais Des Nations,
209 Geneva 10,
Switzerland

WINNING INFORMATION:

The members and sponsors happily announce to you the draw of the New
Mexico Lottery programs held on the 2nd of october, 2005 in Melbourne,
Australia.

Your e-mail address attached to ticket number: 2247887653 which
subsequently won you the lottery in the 2nd category. All participants were selected
randomly from World Wide Web site through computer draw system and
extracted from over 100,000 individuals and companies.

The Lottery teams up with local companies and media partners to promote
Lottery products, and informs citizens on where the proceeds from
Lottery ticket sales go.

You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of 1,000,000
EURO(ONE MILLION EURO) in cash. This is from a total cash prize of FIFTY THREE
MILLION EURO,shared amongst the first hundred (53) lucky winners in
this category.

A statewide focus is taken on most large promotions, and the Lottery
works with local companies, such as Pepsi and IBM, in "co-promotional"
partnerships. These partnerships help each company introduce new
products to customers.

This promotion takes place annually. For security reasons, you are
advised to keep your winning information confidential till your claims is processed and your money 
remitted to you in whatever manner you deem fit to claim your prize.
This is part of our precautionary measure to avoid double claiming and
unwarranted abuse of this program by some unscrupulous elements. Please
be warned.

In view of this, your 1,000,000 EURO(ONE MILLION EURO) would be
released to you by our Security firm. To file for your claim, please contact our
fiduciary/Claims Agent:

Name:Mr.Louis desmond

Email:agentlouis@myway.com
Telephone number:

To avoid unnecessary delays and complications, you are to contact
Mr. Louis desmond with followings details below:

1. Your full names,telephone, contact address
2. quote your Ticket number in any correspondences with us or our
designated agent.

Our agent will immediately commence the process to facilitate the
release of your funds as soon as you contact him.
The Lottery is strongly committed to maintaining the privacy of
personal information that is gathered from the use of its web site and web
services.

The following statement discloses the Lottery's privacy policy and its
information gathering/dissemination practices.
The Lottery will not release personal information to third parties
except where it is already provided by law. Depending on the specific nature
of the service, information may be shared with other state agencies as stated
in the Open Records Act.

This status allows for the exchange of public records or sharing of
information between public agencies when the exchange is serving a

legitimate governmental need or is necessary in the performance of a
legitimate government function.

E-mail addresses or other information that is obtained as a result of
interacting with the Colorado Lottery web site will be used for the
benefit of the Lottery and will not be sold to third party companies except as

required by the Open Records Act.
The Lottery will not share personal information with any private party,

except as required by the Open Records Act.
Sincerely,

brown david
(Zonal Co-ordinator).

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam