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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.

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:
  • "into your nominated bank account" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
• 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.
  • +34679767922 (Spain, prepaid mobile phone)

Fraud email example:

From: Mrs.Ruth Peterson Hudson <lotteryawardoffice@message.com>
Date: Tue, 24 Jan 2006 14:07:59 +0100
Subject: Mrs. Ruth Peterson Hudson


WWW.BINGOLOCITY.COM
INTERNATIONAL PRIZE AWARD DEPT.
REF Number: ORSA/231-ILGI0431/05
BATCH No: NKEV/15/096/TVFS
TICKET No: 20511465463-7644
SERIAL No: 472-9768-98
LUCKY No: 8-66-97-22-65-99

Atten: Winner,

We are pleased to inform you of the result of the Lottery Winners International programs held on the 31 December 2005 Your E-mail address/name attached to Ticket number 20511465463-7644 with Serial number 472-9768-98
drew the lucky numbers 8-66-97-22-65-99, which consequently won in the 1st
category, you have therefore been approved for a lump sum payout of
615,810.00 (Six Hundred and Fifty Thousand Eight and Ten Dollars Only).
This is from a total cash prize of ?10,000,000.00 Million shared amongst
Ten International Lucky Winners in the Category A + (Plus).

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

This lottery is a promotional program by BINGOLOTTO, (Biggest lottery
Organization in the España) to advertise to the world its existence.
All participants were selected through a computer ballot system drawn from
over 50,000 companies and 2,000,000 individual email addresses from all
over the world, as part of our international promotions program, which we
intend to conduct several times a year.
Be informed that your documents have to pass our authority to obtain a
clearance, which shall be attached to your document in readiness of the
subsequent onward transfer into your nominated bank account with 24 hours of
completion of the authentication. Due to the possibility of unscrupulous individuals filing a double claim,

we suggest that you keep this award strictly confidential until your claim
has been processed and notarized and your certificate of award obtained.
This is in conformity with the lottery claim regulations by our
Organization & the Spanish Gaming Control Board.
This is part of our security protocol measures to avoid double claiming and
unwarranted abuse of this program by some participants/non participants.
All winnings must be claimed not later than 31 January 2006. After this
date all unclaimed funds will be included in the next stake. Anybody under
the age of 18 is automatically disqualified.

To obtain your claim, please contact the processing department;

Snr. Gabriel Garcia Jaramillo,
TEL:+34-679 767 922
FAX:+34-940-466 990
gabrielgarcia@message.com

(BINGO LOTTO CITY CLAIM AGENCY IN SPAIN).
NOTE: All winnings must be notarized and a certificate of award must be
obtained from the Spanish Gaming Control Board to complete the claims
process, this certificate can only be obtained through legal representation
so winners will be referred to a legal consultant (Mr. Perz Maria Cruzco) to assist
in this process. Winners are to cover the legal charges for the notarization of the
claims form and the acquisition of the certificate of award not BINGOLOTTO.

In order to avoid unnecessary delays and complications, please do forward
your Tel/Fax number to your processing agent. So you are to act fast in the
claiming of your funds, for delays will compel us to disperse your funds,
in other words, we shall divert your funds as stated above. Kindly remember
to quote your reference number and batch numbers in all correspondence.

Furthermore, should there be any change of address do inform our/your agent
as soon as possible. Finally, we call on you to make sure that you note every letter clearly as
stated for we will not be held responsible should there be any
complications in this transaction due to laxity on your part.
Congratulations once more from our members of staff and thank you for being
part of our promotional program.

Yours truly
Mrs. Ruth Peterson Hudson
Lotto Coordinator

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam