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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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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:
  • "from the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • "claims 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.
  • +447024018160 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: Global Email Lottery <globalemaillottery@promologins.org>
Date: Mon, 01 May 2006 20:01:57 -0500
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS!!! AWARD NOTIFICATION

FROM: GLOBAL EMAIL LOTTERY
BV. 41B EDGE WARE ROAD LONDON
UNITED KINGDOM.

FROM THE DESK OF THE PROMOTIONS DIRECTOR,
INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS/PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT,
REF NUMBER: SYR/200010-1-2II
BATCH NUMBER: GEL-O703-65001

ATTENTION:LOTTERY WINNER

We are pleased to inform you of the announcement today the 1st of May 2006, of winners of the GLOBAL EMAIL LOTTERY .You/Your company's email address, attached to ticket number 7759248, with serial number 700 drew the lucky numbers 23-13-12-22-11-32 and consequently won the lottery in the 2nd category.You have therefore been approved for a lump sum pay of £2,700,000.00 Great Britain Pounds.

This is from total prize money of £18,900,000.00 Pounds shared among 3 winners in this category. All participants were selected on the 29th of April 2006 through a Computerized Email Selection System(ESS) from a database of over 250,000 email addresses drawn from all the continents of the world as part of our International Promotions Program, which is conducted annually.

CONGRATULATION !!!

For security purpose and clarity, we advise that you keep your winning information confidential until your claims have 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.

To enable us forward to you your PAYMENT PROCESSING FORM for the processing of your payment, please call Mr Eric Moore, Head of Clearance Department on Tel: +447024018160 to clarify your winnings or send an email to:

GLOBAL EMAIL LOTTERY
BV. 41B EDGE WARE ROAD LONDON-UNITED KINGDOM
EMAIL: mr.ericmoore@merseymail.com

For processing and remittance of your prize funds into your designated bank account.Note: that all prize funds must be claimed not later than 13TH OF MAY, 2006 LAST COLLECTION DATE. After this date all funds will be returned to our treasury as unclaimed. You are adviced to quote your reference and batch number in every correspondence with us or your claims agent in order to avoid unnecessary delays and complications.

Furthermore, should there be any change in your address, do inform your claims agent as soon as possible.

Note: Anybody under the age of 18 is automatically disqualified.

Sincerely yours,
Helen Ince
(Director)
GLOBAL EMAIL LOTTERY


N.B. Any breach of confidentiality on the part of the winners will result to disqualification.Please do not reply to this mail. Contact your claims agent.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam