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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:

• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "cheque " (Beware of any scheme that involves cashing checks or money orders and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere - you'll be liable for the entire amount if the checks or money orders turn out to be fake, even after you have received and forwarded cash)
• 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.
  • +447031847545 (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.
  • worldwidecourierexpress@yahoo.com.au

Fraud email example:

From: "Uk lottery Organization" <uklottery205winnings@hotmail.com>
Date: Mon, 05 Dec 2005 10:53:31 +0000
Subject: You are a proud winner of GBP£2,367,834

UK-LOTTERY ORGANIZATION
Online winnings dept.
Ref Number: UK/9420X2/68
Batch Number: 074/05/ZY369
Telephone: +44-70318-47545

WINNING NOTIFICATION.

We happily announce to you the draw of the Uk-Lotto Sweepstake Lottery
International programs held in Bangkok-Thailand on the 25th of November
,2005 Your e-mail address attached to ticket number: 56475600545 188 with
Serial number 5368/02 drew the lucky numbers:07-12-23-26-29-44 which
subsequently won you the lottery in the first category. You have therefore
been approved to claim a total sum of £2,367,834(Two million, three hundred
and sixty seven thousand, eight hundred and thirty four British Pounds
sterling) which is approximately usd4.2m, from total cash prize of
£23,678,340 was shared amongst the first Ten (10) lucky winners in this
category All participants were selected randomly from World Wide Web site
through computer draw system and extracted from over 100,000 companies.

The World Wide Courier Express Services has been given the Contract to
deliver all our winners cheque to the address of the respective winners.
WORLD WIDE COURIER THAILAND COMPANY LTD
410/36 Rachadaphisek Bangkok, Thailand.
Contact Agent: Mr. Martin Hua (Director of Operations and Logistics)
Email address: worldwidecourierexpress@yahoo.com.au

To avoid unnecessary delays and complications, please quote your full
names,telephone number,Winnings numbers [such as batch,ref,serial and lucky
winning number],your country and address where you want to receive your
winnings cheque in your contact mail to Mr Martin Hua.
Congratulations once more from all members and staffs of this program and
thank you for being part of our promotional lottery programm.
For safety measures and to avoid fruadulent claims you are adviced to keep
all about your winnings information and notification confidential and away
from all third parties till your check arrives your address.

Congratulations once more from all the members and staffs of this program.

Sincerely,
Mr Ambrose Micheal,
UK-LOTTO ORGANIZATION,
ON-LINE NOTIFICATION MANAGER.



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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam