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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:

• 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.
  • +447092870300 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
  • +447031850648 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
• 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.
  • online_fuditiary@yahoo.co.uk

Fraud email example:

From: "free lotto company" <free_lottocompany3@msn.com>
Date: Sun, 30 Oct 2005 09:23:14 +0000
Subject: WINNING NOTIFICATION

THE FREE LOTTO COMPANY
UK HEAD OFFICE
SUITE 23-30,LION TOWERS
CENTRAL LONDON
ENGLAND

Dear Winner,

We are please to announce you as one of the 10 lucky winners in the
FreeLotto draw held on the October 28th 2005. All 10 winning addresses were
randomly selected from a batch of 50,000,000 international emails.Your email
address emerged alongside 9 others as a category 2 winner in this year's
Annual
FreeLotto Draw.

Consequently,you have therefore been approved for a total pay out of
1,000,000 pounds (one million pounds) only.The following particulars are
attached to your lotto payment order:

(i) winning numbers: 08-18-25-32-33-40
(ii) email ticket number: FL754/22/76
(iii) lotto code number: FL09622UK
(iv) the file Ref number: FL/04/736207152/UK

Please contact the underlisted claims officer as soon as possible for the
immediate release of your winnings:

Mr. Thomas Cromwell
Chief Claims Officer
The Freelotto Company
TEL:+ 44 703 185 0648
FAX: +44 709 287 0300
EMAIL: online_fuditiary@yahoo.co.uk
N.B: Steps to claiming your prize;

1.Please quote your Reference number in all correspondence with the claims
officer.

2.Winners must send thier names, address, telephone number and means of
identification (international passport, drivers licence or work I'D card) to
claim officer, via email or fax, to process the immediate payment of your
prize.


Once again on behalf of all our staff,

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Sincerely,
Promotions Manager
The Lotto company
UK & Europe.

-------------------------------------------------

The FreeLotto Awards is proudly sponsored by the Microsoft Corporation,the
Intel Group,Toshiba, Dell computers, Mckintosh and a conglomeration of other
international IT companies.The freelotto internet draw is held once in a
year and is so organized to encourage the use of the internet and computers
worldwide.We are proud to say that over 200 Million Euros are won annually
in more than 150 countries worldwide.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam