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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:
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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.

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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)
  • "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 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.
  • trinityagencysa@zwallet.com

Fraud email example:

From: Judith Manor <info_bonolottery@zwallet.com>
Reply-To: trinityagencysa@netscape.net
Date: Mon, 24 Oct 2005 22:31:19 -0700
Subject: Judith Manor


FROM THE DESK OF THE PROMOTIONS MANAGER,
EUROPEAN UNION INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS
AWARD DEPARTMENT.
Ref: FER/4690/6103/24
Batch:245-379-482
Winning No:701/RMD123
Dear Lottery Winner,
WINNING NOTIFICATION
We happily announce to you the draw of the Bono Lottery International
Program held on the 7th of October, 2005. Your name "email address" was
attached to ticket number; 12324277 serial number 6663817262 this batch
draws the lucky numbers as follows 2-9-22-23-24-30 bonus number 5, which
consequently won the lottery in the second category.
You hereby have been approved lump sum pay of 800,000.00Euro (EIGHT HUNDRED THOUSAND EURO) file Ref: FER/8309/1209/26 from the total cash prize of 8,000,000.00 shared amongst ten lucky winners based on their category.
All participants "email address" were selected through a computer balloting
system drawn from Nine hundred thousand names from Canada, Australia,
United States, Asia, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Oceanic as part of our
international promotions program which is conducted annually.
This Lottery was promoted and sponsored by some multinational companies
including Bill Gate and some other EU governmental personalities as part of
their social responsibility to the citizens in the communities where they
have operational base.
To process your claims you are hereby advice to contact your/our accredited
claim agent for EUROPEAN UNION INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS
================================================
MR. JAMES ROBERTS
TRINITY CONSULTANT AGENCYS
TEL: (34)-637-708-803
FAX: (34)-911-518-435
E MAIL: trinityagencysa@zwallet.com
================================================
For security reasons, we advice all winners to keep this information
confidential from the public until your claim is processed and your prize released to
you. This is part of our security protocol to avoid dual claiming and unwarranted
taking advantage of this program by non-participant or unofficial personnel.
Congratulations once again on your winnings!!!
Yours faithfully,
JUDITH MANOR.
Co-coordinator
EUROPEAN UNION INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS,

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam