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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
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• 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:

• 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.
  • +447024032375 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
• 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.
  • claims_processunit@yahoo.co.uk

Fraud email example:

From: "MAIL SENDER" <sirwoodruf004@hotmail.co.uk>
Date: Sat, 09 Sep 2006 20:27:02 +0100
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS GUINNESS ANNUAL PROMO WINNER!!!

_______________________________________________________ Felicitaciones      Félicitations         Congratulazioni           Congratulations _______________________________________________________ LOTTERY DEPARTMENT P O Box 1042 London, L70 1NL UNITED KINGDOM Ref: GXL/3640G07/26 Batch: 031/05/IPX205   Dear Lucky Winner, We are pleased to notify you the result of the just concluded Guiness Hour Promo annual final draws held by the guiness company, UK. September 2006, This is to inform you that your email  falls among the 6 Lucky winning emails which subsequently won you the award in the 1st category, you have been therefore selected for a cash prize of L865,205.00  (Eight Hundred And Sixty Five Thousand, Two Hundred And Five Great Britain Pounds Sterling). However the results were released on the 6th September, 2006 and  your email was attached to ticket number (3GXYZ4) and ballot number (BT:12052006/20) The online draws was conducted by a random selection of email addresses from an exclusive list of 29,031 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) from a database of email addresses drawn from all the continents of the world.    This Promo is approved by the British Gaming Board and  also Licensed by the The International Association of Gaming Regulators (IAGR).This  Promo is the 3rd of its kind  and we intend to sensitize the public. Your prize award has been insured in your email and is ready for claims. To begin your claims process, you are advised to expeditiously contact our licensed and accredited claims officer through our accredited Prize Transfer agents as  stated below: ============================================================== Daniel Hamilton(Mr), Park Royal  London NW107RR E-mail: claims_processunit@yahoo.co.uk Phone Number: +44 702 403 2375 Time to call(10am to 4pm londontime) ============================================================== You are to keep all Promo information away from the general public especially your ticket number and ballot number. (This is important as a case of double claims will not be entertained).   NOTE: All winnings must be claimed within 14 days from today. After this date all unclaimed funds would be included in the next stake. Members of the affiliate agencies are automatically not allowed to participate in this program. *Winner under the age of 18  are automatically disqualified. *Staff of Guinness company are not to partake in this Promo.   Accept my hearty congratulations once again!   Yours faithfully, Sir. Woodruf Anderson,  Online coordinator, UNITED KINGDOM.                                                                  © 2006 Guinness & Co. All rights reserved.                            All rights reserved. Terms of Service -Guidelines.

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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam