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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:
  • "fiduciary agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "hundred thousand united states dollars" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
• 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.
  • +447031843651 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
• 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.
  • cherlysth@yahoo.ie (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "Gray Larry" <ilpgray2@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: cherlysth@yahoo.ie
Date: Tue, 12 Sep 2006 00:46:13 -1000
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS!!!

The Irish Lottery
47 Meadow Vale,
Sligo, Ireland.

Ref:LSUK/2031/8161/05
Batch: R3/A312-59

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

We are pleased to announce to you the draw of the IRISH LOTTERY PROGRAMME
online Sweepstakes International Program held on the 10th September 2006.
Your e-mail address attached to the winning ticket number: 56475600545 188
with Serial number 5368/05 drew the lucky number: 21 which subsequently won
the LOTTO PLUS 1 prize. You have therefore been approved to claim a total
sum of 1,500,000 DOLLARS (One Million Five Hundred Thousand United States
Dollars) in cash credited to file KTU/9023118308/05 of Irish Lottery.

All participants for the online version were selected randomly from the
World Wide
Web through a computer draw system and extracted from over 100,000 Unions,
Associations and Corporate Bodies that are listed online.

Please note that your lucky winning number falls within our European booklet
representative office in Europe as indicated in your play coupon.
In view of this, your $1,500,000 Dollars would be released to you by any of
our payment offices in Europe (UK).

To file for your claim, please contact our Fiduciary Agent:
Dr. CHERYL SMITH
Email: cherlysth@yahoo.ie
Tel: +44-703-184-3651
+44-703-184-2244

For security reasons, you are advised to keep your winning information
confidential till your claims is processed and your money remitted to you in
whatever manner you deem fit to claim your prize.
This is part of our precautionary measure to avoid double claiming and
unwarranted abuse of this program. Please be warned!

NOTE: ALL YOUR MONETARY CLAIM MUST BE CLEARED WITHIN 15 WORKING DAYS FROM
THIS NOTIFICATION!!

Sincerely,
GRAY LARRY (SIR).
Online Co-ordinator

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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam