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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!
  
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• 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:
  • "claim agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
• 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.
  • +31633733968 (Netherlands, prepaid mobile phone)
• 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.
  • gdfbv@yahoo.com

Fraud email example:

From: POSTCODE LOTERIJ INTERNATIONALE <lottowell@netscape.net>
Date: Fri, 14 Oct 2005 13:21:09 -0700
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS! CONGRATULATIONS!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!

POSTCODE LOTERIJ INTERNATIONALE
AMSTERDAM,NETHERLANDS.

Dear Winner,

Congratulations! You have just won 1,000,000 Euro (ONE MILLION EURO)in an internet lottery in which
e-mail address was picked randomly by software powered by the Internet through the worldwide website.
Your email address was along those chosen in this THIRD QUARTER of the year. This promo is proudly
sponsored by the Postcode Loterij Internationale. You can log on to our website for more information
concerning our entire lottery promo http://www.postcodeloterij.nl. Your email address, attached to
JOKER: 176618, with EXTRA JOKER: 173924 drew the WINNING NUMBER 11-13-15-22-24-26 and
subsequently won the lottery in the "C" Category. You have therefore been approved for a lump sum pay
out of 1,000,000 million Euro(ONE MILLION EURO).

Please note that your lucky winning number falls within our European Booklet representative office in
Europe as indicated in the play coupon.Our European agent will immediately commence the process to
facilitate the release of your funds as soon as you contact them. All participants were selected randomly
from World Wide Web site through computer draw System and extracted from over 300,000 companies
and individual email addresses. 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. To file for your claim please contact
our accredited agent:
**************************************************************************
Mr.Gann Duff
Global Diplomatic Finance B.V.
Amsterdam,Netherlands.
Tel:+31-633-733-968
Email:gdfbv@yahoo.com

NOTE: To avoid unnecessary delays and complications, please quote your joker number and extra joker
numbers with your phone numbers etc in any correspondences with your designated claim agent, e.g:
(1) FULL NAME
(2) JOKER NUMBER
(3) EXTRA JOKER NUMBER
(4) COUNTRY
(5) WINNER ADDRESS
(6) TEL/FAX NUMBERS

Congratulations once more from all members and staff of this program.

Thank you for being part of our promotional lottery winner program.

Sincerely,
Mrs.C.Tensen
Cordinator,
(Postcode Loterij Internationale)

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam