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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
• Support our efforts to stop scams!
  
• How to report 419 spam to us
• What can you do when you receive 419 spam
  
  
• Spam archive, Daily index
  

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.
  • +447024017848 (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.
  • richard_peters2000powcf@yahoo.co.uk
  • richardpeters_2001powcf@yahoo.co.uk

Fraud email example:

From: "catrin walters" <catrin_walters2006@blueworld.co.za>
Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2007 22:44:30 +0200
Subject: Grant Beneficiary


ATTN: Grant Beneficiary,

This is to bring to your information that your email has been randomly
selected and approved as a charity grant beneficiary of PRINCESS OF
WALES CHARITY FOUNDATION(POWCF). You are awarded a grant sum of
£2,555,000.00 (Two Million Five Hundred And Fifty Five Thousand Great Britain
Pounds) Grant Reference Code Number:7890-789.And for further instructions
on how you are to put claim to your grant, you are to FORWARD a copy of
this notification to our International Grants Officer's email address
below as well as give him a call via phone number below:
MR.RICHARD PETERS ,
INTERNATIONAL GRANTS OFFICER,
GRANT AWARD DEPARTMENT,
Tel: +447024017848
Fax: +447005947108
Email:richard_peters2000powcf@yahoo.co.uk
CC:richardpeters_2001powcf@yahoo.co.uk
Congratulations once again from the entire staff of PRINCESS OF WALES
CHARITY FOUNDATION
and it is our hope that you will appreciate our gesture and
judiciously spend your grant.
Sincerely,
Miss Catrin Walters,
PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICER,
GRANT AWARD DEPARTMENT,
PRINCESS OF WALES CHARITY FOUNDATION
FOUNDATION BUILDING,
29 HOUGHTON STREET,
LONDON, WC2A 2AE,
UNITED KINGDOM.
UNSUBSCRIBE:
YOU ARE TO KEEP ALL GRANT INFORMATION FROM THE IMMEDIATE PUBLIC AS WE WILL NOT ENTERTAIN CASES OF MULTIPLE CLAIMS PROCESSING OR COMPROMISE THE PRIVACY AND SECURITY OF ALL OUR BENEFICIARIES, THIS IS IN LINE WITH THE DATA PROTECTION ACT OF POWMF.
PRINCESS OF WALES PRINCESS OF WALES CHARITY FOUNDATION IS NOT
AFFILIATED WITH BULK EMAIL SENDING/SPAMMING, IF YOU FEEL YOU HAVE BEEN SELECTED
AS A GRANT BENEFICIARY IN ERROR, KINDLY VISIT THE FOLLOWING LINK TO
UNSUBSRIBE FROM OUR GRANT BENEFICIARIES LIST
http://www.powcf.8m.net/unsubpage.html

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam