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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)
• 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.
  • rabbijohnson1@yahoo.com

Fraud email example:

From: "EUROUNION LOTTERY" <eurounion_lottery@hotmail.com>
Date: Mon, 23 Jan 2006 11:45:24 +0000
Subject: CONGRATULATION!!! YOU WON OUR LOTTERY PRIZE

FROM THE DESK OF THE PROMOTIONS MANAGER, EUROPEAN UNION INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS  AWARD DEPARTMENT. P O Box 1010, L70 1NL Liverpool, UNITED KINGDOM (Customer Services)  Ref: FER/4690/6103/24 Batch:245-379-482 Winning No:701/RMD123                                                                                 WINNING  NOTIFICATION DEAR WINNER   We happily announce to you the draw of the Bono Lottery International Program held on the 17th of Nov, 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 $950000.00 (NINE HUNDRED AND FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS) file Ref: FER/8309/1209/26 from the total cash prize of $9.5Million Dollars 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 as including Bill Gate President of the World Largest software, and some other EU governmental personalities part of their social responsibility to the citizens in the communities where they have operational base.   For security reasons, you are advised to keep your winning information confidential till your claims is processed and your money remitted to you in whatever manner you deem fit to claim your prize, This is part of our precautionary measure to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this programme by some unscrupulous elements. Please be warned   To process your claims you are hereby advice to contact,The promotions Manager with this below information   MR.RABBIE JOHNSON EUROPEAN UNION INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS rabbijohnson1@yahoo.com YOUR NAME: YOUR ADDRESS: NATIONALITY: SEX: AGE: PHONE/MOBILE: FAX OCCUPATION: BATCH/WINNING NUMNBER: Remember, all winning must be claimed not later than 20th March,2006.After this date all unclaimed funds will be included in the next stake.Please note in order to avoid unnecessary delays and complications please remember to quote your reference number and batch numbers in all correspondence.   Furthermore, should there be any change of address ,do inform our agent as soon as possible.Congratulations once more. Note: Anybody under the age of 18 is automatically disqualified. Congratulations once again on your winnings!!! Yours faithfully, Mrs SHELLY DAVIES                               Co-coordinator EUROPEAN UNION INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS.          Open 7 days 7am-7pm.

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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam