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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.
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "from the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
• 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 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.
  • treasury_office4@yahoo.co.uk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: <treasury_office4@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: 9 Sep 2006 10:55:40 -0000
Subject: EUROAFRIC LOTTERY ORGANIZATION

Content-Type: text/plain
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit


EUROAFRIC LOTTERY ORGANIZATION
67 KEREKU ROAD COUTONOU BENIN REPUBLIC.
FROM THE DESK OF THE PRESIDENT MR.MARK JOHNSON ,
INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS/PRIZE AWARD DEPT
Reference Number: CAP /9420X2/68/WV1
Batch number BATCH: STAV/074/05/ZY369/AK

ATTN:PRIZE AWARD WINNER,

We are pleased to inform you, that as a result of our RECENT LOTTERY DRAWS HELD on the 17th August, 2006 .Your e-mail address attached to ticket number 20511465697-62955 with serial number 472-971106 drew lucky numbers 8-66-97-22-71-59 which consequently won in the 2nd category.

you have therefore been approved for a lump sum pay of $950,00USD.(NINE HUNDRED AND FIFTY THOUSAND only).Note that All participants in this lottery program have been selected randomly through a computer ballot system drawn from over 24,000 companies and 40,000,000 individual email addresses from all search engines and web sites.

This promotional program takes place every year,and it is promoted and sponsored by eminent personalities like the Sultan of Brunei,Bill Gates of microsoft inc and other corporate organisations.

This is to encourage the use of the internet and computers worldwide.For security purpose and clarity,we advice 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 claims and unwarranted abuse of this program by some participants.

We look forward to your active participation in our next 4million euroafric slot.
You are required to contact your the Agent for your Claim .

Agent MR.Ronson Ben,
Email :treasury_office4@yahoo.co.uk



MR.MARK JOHNSON ,

PRESIDENT. EUROAFRIC INTL LOTTERY

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam