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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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• What can you do when you receive 419 spam
  
  
• Spam archive, Daily index
  

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:
  • "from the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • "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 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.
  • operational_manager7@yahoo.ca

Fraud email example:

From: "Kelvin Stake." <operational_manager7@yahoo.ca>
Date: Sun, 5 Nov 2006 07:40:31 -0500 (EST)
Subject: Mr.Kelvin Stake


FROM THE DESK OF THE DIRECTOR: PINNACLE AID INTERNATIONAL PRIZE AWARD
DEPT
WINNING NOTIFICATION FOR CATEGORY "A" WINNER ONLY

ATTENTION!


We are pleased to inform you of the result of the last final annual
draw
of our GRANT INTERNATIONAL Programs. The online cyber GRANT draws was
conducted from an exclusive list of 25,000,000 e-mail addresses of
individuals and corporate institutions,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 a
winner in the category "A" with the following numbers attached Ref
Number:
QC 9590 ES 9414,Qualification Number: (N-222-6747,E-900-56) and Ticket
Number: PP 3502 /8707-01.

You are therefore to receive a cash prize of $1,500,000.00. (One
Million
Five Hundred Thousand United States Euros)from the total payout.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!
Your prize award has been insured with your e-mail address and will be
transferred to you upon meeting our requirements, statutory
obligations,
verifications, validations and
satisfactory report. To file in for the processing of your prize
winnings,
you are advised to contact our Certified and Accredited claims agent
for
category "A" winners with the information below:
********************************************************************************************
Name: Pablo Ventura
Email: operational_manager7@yahoo.ca
Tel : +22505783101

********************************************************************************************
You are advised to provide him with the following information:

1. Given Name (As Stated in your ID)
2. Telephone/Fax number:
3. Nationality:
4. Age:

NOTE: All winnings must be claimed not later than 14 days; thereafter
unclaimed funds would be included in the next stake. Remember to quote
your reference information in all correspondence.

You are to keep all Grant information confidential, especially your
reference and ticket numbers. (This is important as a case of double
claim
will not be tolerated).
Members of affiliated agencies are PROHIBITED from participating in
this
program.
Furthermore, should there be any change of address, do inform our agent
as
soon as possible.
Congratulations once more from our members of staff and thank you for
being part of our
Promotional Program.

regards,

Kelvin Stake.
Grant Coordinator.
Pinnacle Aid,
Amsterdam,Netherlands.

***This email may contain confidential and/or privileged information.
The information is intended solely for the use of the individual or
entity
named above. If you are not the intended recipient, be aware that any
disclosure, copying, distribution or use of the contents is
prohibited.
If you have received this electronic transmission in error, please
notify
the sender by telephone or return email and delete the material from
your
computer.***


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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam