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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.

Click here to report a problem with this page.

Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

• 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: "Craig T. Curtis" <craig_curtis06@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Wed, 28 Jun 2006 13:17:20 +0100 (BST)
Subject: How to proceed.


Dear Winner,

I acknowledge the receipt of your mail.

The online cyber lotto draws was conducted from an exclusive list of 21,000 e-mail addresses of individual and corporate bodies picked by an advanced automated random computer search from the internet, no tickets were sold. After this automated computer ballot, your e-mail address emerged as one of two winners in the category "A" so you are advised to send the following information below, which will be used to process your winnings.

1. Name:
2. Address:
3. Marital Status:
4. Occupation:
5. Age:
6. Sex:
7. Nationality:
8. Country Of Residence:
9. Telephone Number: (Country Code)-(Area Code)- Phone Number)
10 Cell Number: (Country Code) - (Cell Phone Number)
11. Fax Number:
12. Annual income:
13. Payment Method: (Draft or Wire transfer)

However, as soon as I receive the above mentioned information, I will proceed immediately by obtaining your winner's certificate, which will enable the paying bank issue your draft or transfer the winning prize to your bank account depending on your choice of payment. Please bear in mind that your winner's certificate is very important because that is the only document that will be presented to the paying bank as proof that you are the rightful owner of the email address that won the lottery.So the earlier you send the required information the better for you.

I await your response.

Yours In Service,

Mr. Craig T.Curtis.


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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam