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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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• 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.

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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.
  • +447011140338 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: ONLINE PROMO <brain1999@hotmail.co.uk>
Reply-To: <rev_mark_great@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Mon, 2 Apr 2007 15:40:32 +0100
Subject: CALL TO CONFIRM



The National lottery P O Box 1010Liverpool, L70 1NLUNITED KINGDOM(Customer Services)
Ref: UK/9420X2/68 Batch: 074/05/ZY369serial: 7321410Draw N0:#978
Dear Winner,
This is to inform you that you have been selected for a cash prize of(1,500,000.00 pounds )held on 31th March 2007. The selection process was carried out through random selection in our computerized email selection system from a database of over 250,000 email addresses drawn from which you were selected.
To file your claims please contact our claims processing department for clearance procedures.
REV MARK GREATEmail:rev_mark_great@yahoo.co.ukPHONE:+447011140338
FULLNAME:...........................................SEX:..............................AGE............................................NATIONALITY........................................OCCUPATION.......................................PHONE.................................................
Yours faithfully, Brain huntOnline coordinator forUK NATIONAL LOTTERY
_________________________________________________________________
Explore the seven wonders of the world
http://search.msn.com/results.aspx?q=7+wonders+world&mkt=en-US&form=QBRE

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam