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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:

• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "claim agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
• 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.
  • +34685326491 (Spain, prepaid mobile phone)

Fraud email example:

From: "CATALONIA LOTO S.L." <catalonialoto06@yahoo.es> (may be fake)
Date: Sat, 7 Oct 2006 23:45:26 +0200
Subject: CONGRATS!!! YOUR EMAIL WON THE LOTTERY...

CATALONIA LOTERIA CL
C\ Don Jaime I nº11 2º
50.003 Zaragoza
Telephone: +34 68 53 26 491
Fax: +34 91 59 56 78
Website: http://www.loteria.cl

Date: 29.09.06

WINNING NOTICE

We gladly wish to inform you of the International draws of the Kino Loterial Draw held on the 15th of September 2006, you alongwith 10 others were selected winners under draws A30 in our 1st Biannual program which feature’s yearly.

However your e-mail address attached to ticket number 45-02-93-61 with serial numbers 738-JY drew the lucky numbers 5-33-37-38-40-49 and consequently won the lottery in the 2nd Category.

CONGRATULATIONS!!

Please be informed that all participants in this lottery program have been selected randomly through a computer ballot system drawn from over 500,000 companies and 50,000,000 individual e-mail addresses.

You have therefore been approved for a lump sum pay out of US$650,000.00 (Six Hundred and Fifty Thousand Dollars only) in cash, credited to file with Ref No: DKL/5935.
Your funds are now deposited with a Finance and Security House who act as our official agents to facilitate the payment of claims to winners.

Due to a possible mix up of some numbers and names, we ask that you keep this award strictly from public notice until your claim has been processed and your money remitted. This is part of our security protocol to avoid double claiming or unscrupulous acts by participants of this program.

To begin your claim, please contact us immediately so that we can lead you to the claims agent, the sole representative assigned with the verification of any emergent winner.

For due processing and remittance of your prize money, remember that you must contact your claim agent not later than 30th of October, 2006. After this date, all funds will be returned as unclaimed.

Congratulations again from all our staff and thank you for being part of our Promotions program.

Sincerely,

Ana Lorenzo.

The Promotions Manager

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam