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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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• 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 about the following email:

• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
• 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!

Fraud email example:

From: "apple corporation" <notice@applesofts.com>
Date: Mon, 27 Mar 2006 22:44:54 +0000
Subject: Prize Award Message - Notification


Prize Award Message - Notification
Customer Service Unit
Tsoft Sweepstakes Ltd.
Frisians Bay Centrum
7721NL PL34.
Ref No: TSL-885159-11/06.
Serial No: 119244
Date: March 27th, 2006.
Dear Sir/Madam,

SWEEPSTAKE PRIZE AWARD INFORMATION.
This email message is to personally notify you of the result of our Tsoft Internet Sweepstakes program that was conducted on the 25th day of March 2006 and that this email address which was attached to our Serial Numbers from 119244 and selected by our Internet E-games Selection System (IESS) has won the recipient of this email address our promotional sweepstakes in the general prize category. You have now been selected among the winners to claim a total payment sum of USD$980,000:00 (NINE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY THOUSAND US DOLLARS ONLY) each as attaches to payment file Ref No: TSL-885159-11/06. We are aware of the surprises that do follow such a notification message based on the fact that you have not purchase a lottery ticket any time, but be informed here that it was a promotional program from our software companies with the major aim of introducing our sweepstake services and at the same time promoting the benefit of the Internet usage. All email addresses that were use for this program were extracted from the internet through our associates.

These approved funds can only be claimed by contacting our assign payment house. Due to the nature of this program, we ask that you keep a copy of this email message safe until your claim has been processed and collected from out payment house; as this is the only security measure that has been put in place to save guild each winner interest. You can begin your claim now by contacting the Payment house (ECTB Finance & Logistics) on email address: reviews@ectb-eu.net
with your Complete Names, Postal (Resident) Address, Telephone and Fax Numbers, Occupation, Reference Numbers and the amount approved (Won) for the processing of this claim. All funds not applied for after the 10th day of April 2006 will be return back to us.

Felicitations as we do expect you to make better use of these funds.

Sincerely Yours,
Brenda Hopkins Sr.
Customer Services Unit.
Email: notice@applesofts.com
***************************************************************************
Note: In accordance with the Tsoft Sweepstakes policy and regulations, this notification is dispatched directly to the prize Winners only. If you are not the rightful recipient and feel you have received this message by error, kindly destroy any copy in your possession for you are not authorized to read, print, retain or disseminate any part of it.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam