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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:

• An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
• The following fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
  • "arena complex km 18 route de rufisque"
  • "route de rufisque"
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "fiduciary agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "barrister" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
  • "amsterdam holland" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
  • "lagos" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
  • "cheque " (Beware of any scheme that involves cashing checks or money orders and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere - you'll be liable for the entire amount if the checks or money orders turn out to be fake, even after you have received and forwarded cash)
• 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!
• Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.
• 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.
  • +447024062973 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
  • +2348057881495 (Nigeria, prepaid mobile phone)
• 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.
  • barr_gomezjames@safe-mail.net (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: Global Internet Lottery Betterlife <globalinternetlotterybetterlife@yahoo.com>
Date: Sun, 25 Jun 2006 16:05:02 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Global Internet Lottrey Betterlife


Global Internet Lottrey Betterlife
G.I.L.B.Inc,
Customer Service, 9 Trafford Training road
Derby, Manchester.
DE7 8EF,LONDON.
Telephone : +447024062973
An Affiliate of Charity International.
Arena Complex Km 18 Route de Rufisque,
I.P.P Award Department,
Amsterdam Holland.
Dear Sir / Madam,
We happily announce to you the draw of 2006 Global Internet Lottery Betterlife Program held on the 20th of May 2006 in Amsterdam Holland.Your e-mail............ address attached to ticket number: 481/6601/1T/Z00 with serial number: 222661 and draw lucky number: 2160/0Q which subsequently won you lottery in the 2nd category of alphabetic file number: QQYC-GG.You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of US$250,000.00 (Two hundred and Fifty Thousand United States Dollars) in Cheque.All participants in this lottery program were selected randomly through a computer ballot system, drawn from 85.000.000 individual email addresses from all search engines.Your e-mail address was picked by the automated computer ballot system, which has been programed for this random selection. This has eventually qualified you for the Winning.This promotional program takes place annually, and is promoted and sponsored by eminent personalities, Sultan of Brunei, Bill Gates of Microsoft
Inc.With the support of European corporate companies and organizations to encourage the use of Internet and computers worldwide.
Please note that your lucky winning number falls within our West Africa representative's booklet in Lagos,NG as indicated in your file number: QQYC-GG. In view of this, your US$250,000.00 Cheque would be released to you by Our West Africa Fiduciary Agent, Our Fiduciary Agent will immediately commence the process to facilitate the release of your Cheque as soon as you contact Barrister Gomez James office in Lagos,NIGERIA.
Please contact Barrister Gomez James in Lagos,NIGERIA for your claim with the following details below to enable the speedy evaluation and processing of your winning.
1 Name. 2 Home address. 3 Telephone number. 4 Age and occupation. 5 Ticket number. 6 Serial number. 7 File number. 8 Draw number. BARRISTER GOMEZ JAMES
G.I.L.B. Inc.WEST AFRICA FIDUCIARY AGENT
E-mail: barr_gomezjames@safe-mail.net
Tel: Tel: +234-805-788-1495
+234-803-858-4852
For security purposes and clarity we advice that you keep your winning informations confidential, and not to be disclosed to anyone until your claim have been fully processed and your winnig Cheque delivered to you. BE WARNED!! Your winning details can only be released to your fiduciary agent who will commence the process of your winning, This is to avoid wrong and double claim, it is also part of our security protocol to avoid unwarranted abuse of this program by some unscrupulous element.You are requested to contact Our West Africa Fiduciary Agent in Lagos,NIGERIA for your claim.Please note that all winnings must be claimed not later than one month after the date of this winning notification.In order to avoid unnecessary delays and complications make sure that your winning details are quoted correctly in all correspondence.

We advice that you adhere strictly to these procedures to avoid disqualifications and subsequent cancellation.The above detailed information will be absolutely necessary to facilitate the process of your winning Cheque.Once again! please Note that this winning is valid for one month and failure to issue claims after this period, your Cheque will be automatically void.
Congratulations!
Mr Smith Damich

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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam