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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.

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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")
  • "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.
  • +31626556384 (Netherlands, prepaid mobile phone)
• 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.
  • dukeeurotrust@aim.com

Fraud email example:

From: mary@maryreynolds.orangehome.co.uk
Date: Tue, 28 Nov 2006 11:45:25 +0100 (CET)
Subject: Compliments of the season.


THE COCA COLA END OF YEAR AWARD BONNAZA !!!
FROM THE DESK OF THE DIRECTOR PROMOTION/PRIZE AWARD DEPT.
ATTN:Dear Winner,
ELECTRONIC MAIL AWARD NOTIFICATION.
We are pleased to inform you of the result of the just concluded annual final draws held on Friday 10th November 2006 by Coca-Cola in conjunction with the British American Tobacco Worldwide
Promotion.Your email was among the fifteen (15) international Lucky winners who won Second category.CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!
However, Due to mix up of some numbers and names, the results were released on Monday 27th November 2006.
Your Email attached to Ticked Number 031-1127-841 with Serial Number 3214-07 Drew Lucky Numbers of 21-22-37-39-41-49 which consequently won in this category "B". You have therefore been approved for a lump sum pay out of US$500.000,00(Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars Only).
The online draws was conducted by a random selection of email addresses from an exclusive list of 29,031,643 E-mail addresses of individuals and corporate bodies picked by an advanced automated random computer search from the internet.
However, no tickets were sold but all email addresses were assigned to different ticket numbers for representation and privacy.
The selection process was carried out through random selection in our computerized email selection machine(TOPAZ).This Lottery is approved by the British Gaming Board and also licensed by the The International Association of Gaming Regulators (IAGR).
In your best interest to avoid mix up of numbers and names of any kind,we request that you keep the entire details of your award strictly from public notice until the process of transferring your claims has been completed and your funds remitted to your account.This is part of our security protocol to avoid double claiming or unscrupulous acts by participants/non participants of this program.
Note: For easy reference and identification,find below your Reference and Batch numbers. Remember to quote these numbers in your correspondence with your claims agent.
REFERENCE NUMBER: ETAUK/26631/7161/06
BATCH NUMBER: 345/051/IPD
To begin the claim processing of your prize, please contact your claims international agent via- EURO TRUST ACCREDITED AGENT BV.
Contact Person:MR.JAN DUKE ROGAN, Foreign Operation Manager.
Tel: +31-626-556-384
Fax: +31-847-306-828
Email:dukeeurotrust@aim.com
You will be given a verifications form to complete and return same to our Agent whose details will be given after you have confirmed the receipt of this winning notification.He will thereafter forward claims to any one of our appointed financial trustees.You are advised to initiate contact with our agent within two weeks of the receipt of this mail. Any prize whose collection is not initiated within the stipulated time will be deemed unclaimed.
Accept our hearty congratulations from the Staff of Coca-Cola and the British American Tobacco Company.
Best Regards
Mrs.Mary Reynolds
Online Co-ordinator

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam