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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
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• 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!

Fraud email example:

From: Ebay Administrator <ebayadmn_freeaward@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Fri, 9 Mar 2007 19:08:33 +0000 (GMT)
Subject: Dear Lucky Winner


AWARD DEPARTMENT!!!


Dear Lucky Winner,

With reference to your mail message we write to inform you that you are a winner in the Ebay Award department .

We want you to understand that the Ebay Award Department is a legitimate lottery company.

Haven't you heard of some one who have won a lottery? you are the lucky winner of the

1.900000Million Great Britian Pounds.Convertably to USD (3,732,132 US Dollar)

The following are the informations needed from you for us to process your claims:
THIS SHOULD BE FILL BY THE BENEFICIARY OF THE STATED BELOW
BENEFICIARY FIRST NAME......................
BENEFICIARY LAST NAME......................
NATIONALITY...................................
RESIDENTIAL ADDRESS.........................
DATE OF BIRTH................................
SEX..............................................
TEL. NUMBER....................................
FAX NUMBER.....................................
EMAIL ADDRESS.................................
AMOUNT WON...................................
BATCH NUMBER.................................
REFERENCE N?..................................
OCCUPATION....................................
MARITAL STATUS...............................
HOW DO YOU FEEL AS A WINNER............

Upon our receipt of all these informations we will immediately process your claim and deliver it to you by cheque.

congratulations once more.
Mr Wilfort Peterson.




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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam