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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:

• 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.
  • +447011130465 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: NATIONAL LOTTERY OFFICE <c.lwinnings_claimagent@yahoo.it> (may be fake)
Date: Sat, 11 Nov 2006 01:06:01 +0100 (MET)
Subject: CocaCola Official Promotion {Winner's Information_Verification}


Dear: Winner, Your email address won you this lottery,email addresses of individual and companies were selected through a computerize balloting system were your email address along with 19 others were selected as the lucky winners. Congratulations once again from all the staff here, you are expected to follow the directives that I shall be giving to you in order to claim your winnings, we need your particulars for record purposes,Here is a copy of our winner's verification claims form, please you are expected to fill accordingly and send immediately back to us, so we can proceed with the clearing of your file, you are also expected to send this form within 24 hours so as not to cause any unnecessary delay. Once again congratulations from all the staff. Regards,
William CarpenterTel:+447011130465Tel:+447024016555 1. Full Names : .........................................................
2. Residential Address : .......................................................
3. Phone Number :Mobile&Home......................................................
4. Fax Number : .........................................................
5. Occupation : .........................................................
6. Sex : .........................................................
7. Age : ......................................................... 8. Nationality :...................................... 9.Ballot No. :...................................... 10.Ticket No.:...................................... *You are adviced to forward these informations as soon as possible to
enable us attend to your file.
You must be 16 or over to play or claim a prize

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam