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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:
  • "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "into your nominated bank account" (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.
  • +31623850306 (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.
  • pyramidlottery@aim.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: Petra Jones <pyramidlottery@walla.com>
Date: Fri, 12 Jan 2007 12:07:02 +0100
Subject: New Year Bonanza !!


FROM THE COORDINATOR
PYRAMID INTERNATIONAL LOTTERY.
PROMOTION & PRIZE AWARD DEPT
AMSTERDAM THE NETHERLANDS
OUR REF: PINTL/9521/3672/07
NEW YEAR BONNAZA!!!
Dear Winner

We are pleased to inform you the result of the computer random selection by Pyramid International lottery. This program is organized yearly by Microsoft in conjunction with the foundation for the promotion of software products F.P.S. to increase computer literacy and also to promote the use of internet. The email lottery draws was conducted from an exclusive list of 700 000.000 e-mail addresses of individual companies and corporate bodies picked by an advanced automated random computer search ballot system from the Internet. NO TICKETS WERE SOLD.
Your email address attached to:
REFERENCE NUMBER: PINTL4681/0912/06
Batch Numbers: BN/76/E01-22
Serial numbers: 73-90-31-67
Lucky numbers: 30-44-51-08-07
Drew and consequently won the lottery in category. "A".
Your email address was among the 20 Lucky winners in Category "A" who won €1000 000.00 (One Million Euros) each on the Pyramid international Lottery. You have therefore been approved for a lump sum pay of €1.000.000.00. (One Million Euros)

Your funds have now been insured and deposited with our affiliate Bank in the Netherlands for transfer into your nominated bank account either by means of wire transfer or any other means suitable to you upon meeting our requirements statutory obligations verifications validations and satisfactory report.
To begin the claims processing of your prize winnings you are advised to contact our licensed and accredited claims agent for category "A" winners with the information below:
Mr. Morgan Stevens(Paying/Foreign Department Manager)
Email: pyramidlottery@aim.com
Tel: 31-623--850-306 /Fax: 31-847-301-193

You are expected to provide the following details below to your claims agent:

1 BATCH AND REFFERENCE NUMBERS
2 FULL NAMES
3 AGE
4 OCCUPATION
5 MAILING ADDRESS
6 PHONES AND FAX NUMBERS
7 EMAIL ADDRESS.
Remember, all winning must be claimed not later than 20 days from the time you receive this mail.
Please note in order to avoid unnecessary delays and complications
Remember to quote your reference and batch number in all correspondence.
Congratulations once again and thank you for being part of our promotions program.
Yours sincerely

Mrs. Petra Jones, (Lottery Coordinator).

N. B. Any breach of confidentiality Or Secrecy on the part of the winners will result to disqualification.
Please do not reply to this email address. Contact your claims agent
immediately.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam