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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:

• An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
• 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.
  • +22997729789 (Benin, probably a 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.
  • johnken06@hotmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "ukstatelottery" <ukstatelottery@terra.com.mx>
Date: Wed, 19 Jul 2006 05:22:12 -0600
Subject: CONGRATULATION


OVERSEAS STAKE LOTTERY
INTERNATIONAL UK.
BATCH NUMBER : AT-040SB06-03
Attention: Winner,
We are pleased to inform you that as a result of our recent lottery draw held on the 18th December 2005, your email address attached to ticket number 27522465896 with serial number 652-662 draw lucky numbers 7-14-18-23-31-45 which consequently won the 2nd category for alump sum pay out of (1,000,000.00 Pounds)
Note that all participants in this lottery program have been selected randomly through a complete ballot system drawn from over 20,000 companies and 30,000 individual email addresses from all search engine and website.
This programme takes place every year and is promoted and sponsored by eminent personalities like the Sultan of Brunei, Bill gate of Microsoft inc and other Corporate Organizations. This is to encourage the use of the internet worldwide.
For security purpose and clarity, we advise that you keep you 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.
As a result of too many winners we are treating on hand and also making ways on how they can catch their winning money, so therefore you are requested to contact our clearance officer in Benin Republic West Africa to assist you with your winnings and subsequent payments.
All winning must be claimed not later than one week after the date of this
notice.
Below is the contact of our clearance officer in Benin Republic West Africa.
Name: Mr. John Kennedy
Email: johnken06@hotmail.com
Phone num: +229 97729789
Fax num: +229 97648925
To avoid delay in claiming your winning fund you are therefore needed to forward to Mr. Kennedy the below information.
1) Your full names and address/country.
2) Tel/Fax line
3) Sex and occupation
4) Your ticket num and serial number.
Please note, in order to avoid unnecessary delays and complications, remember to quote your reference number and batch numbers in all correspondence.
Furthermore, should there be any change of address do inform our agent as soon as possible.
Congratulations once more and thank you for being part of our program.
Yours Sincerely,
Elizabeth McKnight.
(LOTTERY SECRETARY)

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam