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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
• Support our efforts to stop scams!
  
• How to report 419 spam to us
• What can you do when you receive 419 spam
  
  
• Spam archive, Daily index
  

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:
  • "claim agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
• 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.
  • +31626674688 (Netherlands, prepaid mobile phone)

Fraud email example:

From: "GLOBAL SWEEPTAKES MEGALOTERIA ANNUAL LOTTERY" <globalsweeptakes1@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: elitetrustagency2@walla.com
Date: Tue, 7 Mar 2006 09:12:42 +0100
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR WINNING GET BACK TO USASAP

FROM: GLOBAL SWEEPTAKES MEGALOTERIA ANNUAL LOTTERY
PROMOTIONS. WINNING NOTIFICATION FOR CATEGORY "A" WINNER.
Dear lucky winner,
RE: GLOBAL SWEEPTAKES MEGALOTERIA PRIZE AWARDS WINNING
NOTIFICATION!
We are pleased to inform you of the result of the just
concluded annual Final draws of Global Sweepstakes
Megaloteria Lottery Programs held on the 28th of
February 2006.
METHOD OF SELECTING WINNERS:
Participants were selected anonymously through online
cyber ballot system (Computer Ballot) from over 35,000
companies and 70,000 individual names and e-mail
addresses all over the world. At the final draw your
e-mail address emerged as the winner of our last
jackpot.
This promotional program takes place annually as the
year ends, and it is promoted and sponsored by Orient
software corporation (Orient Networks).It is met to
reward some individuals and corporations who have
devoted their time and resources surfing the World
Wide Web (www) .No tickets were sold.
After this automated computer ballot, your e-mail
address emerged as the winner in the category "A" with
the following:
Ref Number: 4549/337-5247/LNI
Batch Number: 26371545-LNI/2005
Ticket Number: 7746017
Draw Lucky Numbers: 821009-121
You have therefore been approved for a lump sum pay
out of $ 1,000,000.00 (ONE MILLION
USD),Congratulation!
Your prize award has been insured with your e-mail
address and will be transferred to you upon meeting
our requirements, statutory obligations,
Verifications, validations and satisfactory report.
To begin the claim processing of your prize winnings,
you are advised to contact our licensed and accredited
claim agent for category "A" winner with the
information's below:
Mr. Milan Ahrens,
Financial Director,
Elite Trust and Finance Agency,
De Amsterdamse Poort, Bijlmerplein
888 1102 MG Amsterdam
1000 BV Amsterdam,The Netherlands
E-mail:elitetrustagency2@walla.com
TEL: +31 626 674 688
FAX: +31-84-727-7318
NOTE: All winnings must be claimed not later than the
12th of March 2006. After this date all unclaimed
funds would be included in the next stake. Remember to
quote your reference information in all
correspondence.
Due to mix up of some numbers and names/programme
abuse, we ask that you keep your winning information
confidential until your claim has been processed and
your money remitted to you. This is part of our
security protocol to avoid double claiming and
unwarranted abuse of this program by some
participants.
Anybody under the age of 18 and members of the
affiliate agencies are automatically not allowed to
participate in this program.
Furthermore, should there be any change of address do
inform our agent as soon as possible.
Congratulations once more from our members of staff
and thank you for being part of our promotional
program.
Yours faithfully,
Mrs. Mar yam Van Duke.
Lottery Coordinator.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam