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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
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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 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.
  • +447040124468 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: "james scott" <leedspromo@leedspromo.org>
Date: Mon, 17 Oct 2005 12:57:39 +0000
Subject: CONGRATULATION!

LEEDS PROMOTIONS
Airport Hale Rd Halebarns
Altrincham Cheshire WA15 8XW UK
Batch No: WD18/0065/04RN
Our Ref: UKNL/255457004/04
Our Ref: UK-NL/0627/04
TO WINNERS IN OUR PROGRAM
We wish to congratulate you over your success in our
computer balloting sweepstake held on 17th october 2005.
This is a millennium scientific computer game in which
email addresses were used. It is a promotional program aimed at encouraging
internet users;
therefore you do not need to buy ticket to enter for
the game. However, your email address was attached to ticket number
034-22478556; with serial number 129 draw the lucky numbers
06-09-13-15-40-43-02, which
eventually won the lottery in the first category of the draws. Therefore,
you have won a lottery jackpot prize awards of £1,500,000.00 (one
million five hundred thousand pounds Sterling Only) This is from total
prize money of US$30,000,000.00 distributed to winners from 1st to
3rd categories.
Note that this program was largely promoted and sponsored by a group of
philanthropist, industrialists from the internet wareindustry and some other
big multinational firms who wish to be anonymous.
You may wish to establish contact via e-mail with the particulars presented
below citing the batch and reference numbers to this letter. Telephone lines
are open between the hours of 8.00am - 7.30pm on Monday through Friday
Claims Service Unit,
Tel:+447040124468
Fax:+448717200176
Email: claims@leedspromo.org
Contact person: Miss Clare Armstrong
Our winners are assured of the utmost standards of confidentiality, and
press anonymity until the end of proceedings, and beyond where they so
desire. Be further advised to maintain the strictest level of
confidentiality until the end of proceedings to circumvent problems
associated with fraudulent cliams.
CONGRATULATIONS !!!
At your disposal, we remain.
Very Truly Yours,
James Scott (Mr.),
Director.
International Promotions Unit,
UK LeedsPromotions LOTTERY,
Airport Hale Rd Halebarns
Altrincham Cheshire WA15 8XW UK

Confidentiality Notice:
The information contained in this e-mail and any attachments may be
legally privileged and confidential. If you are not an intended
recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination,distribution
or copying of this e-mail is strictly prohibited. If you have received
this e-mail in error, please notify the sender and permanently delete
the e-mail and any attachments immediately. You should not retain, copy
or use this e-mail or any attachment for any purpose, nor disclose all
or any part of the contents to any other person.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam