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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
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• 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.

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.
  • +31642776437 (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.
  • odemiller_m@yahoo.ca

Fraud email example:

From: "mega lotto" <megalotto50@msn.com>
Date: Thu, 19 Jan 2006 09:50:09 +0000
Subject: MEGA LOTTO WINNING NOTICATION

 

Batch No: WD34/0105/06RN
Your Ref: NL/565457014/06
Our Ref : NL/= 4617/06
       
 THE NETHE= RLANDS OVERSEAS LOTTERY FINAL NOTIFICATION

Dear Lucky Winner,

RE: BONUS LOTTERY PROMOTION PRIZE AWARDS WINNING NOTIFICATION
W= e are pleased to notify you officially of the result of the Lottery
W= inners
International programs held on the 20th of December 2005 as pa= rt of our
Promotional programs for the year 2005. Your e-mail address= attached to
ticket number 77007742781005-18721 with reference number= 414-3721060
drew
winning numbers 7-00-71-00-66-49 and credited t= o batch number 121cfc,
which
consequently won in the 3rd category= via our electronic ticket as
stated
above. You have therefore be= en approved for a pay out of 2,000,000.00
Euros
(Two Million Euro= s).
The Total funds have now been deposited and insured with our affil= iate
security firm (Bank) for  transfer into your nominated bank= account
either
by means of wire transfers through any of our cor= respondent banks or=20
any
other means suitable to you. We also advice that you keep you= r winning
information very confidential as our security policy demand= s to avoid
double
claims/impersonation and unwarranted abuse of t= his program by some
individuals. All participants were selected throu= gh a random computer
ballot
system drawn from over 800,000 compan= y and 1,000,000 individual email
addresses and names from all over th= e world. This promotional program
takes
place annually and we hop= e with part of your winning you will take part
in
our next year =A3= 20 Million Euros International Lottery.
This lottery is promoted and s= ponsored by software corporations and
other
private organizations= to help individuals generate fortunes which would
encourage them to = expand their business frontiers thereby creating more
opportunities a= nd assisting with=20 humanitarian concerns within their
immediate environment. Please Note= that winnings must be claimed not
later
than 20th of May 2006. A= fter this date all unclaimed funds will be
included
in our subseq= uent program coming up later in 2006. In order to avoid
complications= always quote your reference number in al Correspondence.
Furthermore,= should there be any change of address do inform us as soon
as
po= ssible. Congratulations from our organization and thank you for being part
of our promotional program.
To file for your claim, please c= ontact the lotto agency in charge of
Verifications and approvals.
=             &= nbsp;           &n= bsp;   Mr  . Bode =20 Muller.
          &n= bsp;           &nb= sp;    Email: bb= odemiller_m@yahoo.ca
       &nb= sp;           &nbs= p;       Phone: +31-64-277-64-37
 &= nbsp;           &n= bsp;           &nb= sp; Fax  : 0031-847-581-345
Sincerely yours,
Mrs. MONALISA AND= ERSON
Director. International Promotions Unit,
THE NETHERLANDS OVER= SEAS LOTTERY,
Lloyds Complex, 1091ps, Amsterdam Zuidooeast,
Amsterd= am,
The Netherlands. megalotto5= 0@msn.com
Batch No: WD34/0105/06RN
Your Ref: NL/565457014/06Our Ref: NL/4617/06

 

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam