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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")
  • "million 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 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.
  • afrolotto@rediffmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: Afro Asia Lottery Agency <afroasiawin@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: afrolotto@rediffmail.com
Date: Tue, 14 Nov 2006 05:45:02 -0800
Subject: WINNING NOTIFICATION


Afro-Asia Lottery Agency,
28 February Road Accra,
PMB 2 Accra Ghana

WINNING NOTIFICATION:

We happily announce to you the draw of the Afro-Asia Lottery programs held recently in Accra

Ghana in conjunction with the New Partnership for Africa Development NEPAD; your e-mail

address attached to ticket number: AX0456-12GH with Batch number 011G456-79 which

subsequently won you the lottery in the 9th category.

You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of US$2,000,000 (Two Million United

States Dollars). This is from a total cash prize of US$20,000,000 shared amongst the first

Twenty (10) lucky winners in this category.

Please note that your lucky winning number falls within our Accra Booklet representative

office in Ghana as indicated in your play coupon. In view of this, your US$2,000,000 (Two

Million United States Dollars) would be paid to you by our representative in Accra Ghana

after you had met and comply with claim procedure. Our Accra Ghana Agent will immediately

commence the process to facilitate the payment of your winnings as soon as you contact him.

All participants were selected randomly from World Wide Web site through computer draw

system and extracted from over 100,000 individuals and companies. This promotion takes place

annually.

To file for your claim, please contact our fiduciary Agent: Mr. willams Dowu on

Email:afrolotto@rediffmail.com and state the below information. These informations will help

in processing your winning claim as quick as possible

Please complete the below:

(a). Your full names:
(b). Telephone number:
(c). Contact address:
(d). Country of residence:
(e). Ticket Number:
(f). Occupation:
(g). Age:

Quote your Ticket number in any correspondences with our designated agent.

Congratulations, once more from all members and Staffs of this program and thanks for being

part of our promotional lottery program.

Sincerely,

Dr. McDonald Cyfer
Director General
Afro-Asia Lottery Agency

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam