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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
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• 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:

• 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:
  • "fiduciary agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "to 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.
  • +447031930422 (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.
  • john2interlotto@aol.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "Nancy Dorian" <nancy.interlott@hotmail.com>
Date: Sat, 7 Apr 2007 20:33:51 -0700
Subject: Re:

InterLotto®

 

RANDOM EMAIL LOTTERY WINNING NOTIFICATION

 

This is an official notification that your email address bixnfleisch@joewein.net have been picked as a winner in our 2007 Random Email Lottery Program. You are hereby entitled to an amount of  £280,000.00GBP to be paid to your nominated bank account.

 

InterLotto Email Lottery Program is a computer lottery game in which random email addresses are attached to tickets and are drawn to select winners. It is a promotional program aimed at encouraging internet users worldwide, therefore you do not need to buy a ticket to enter for it. All email addresses used were selected through a computer ballot system in which your email address was selected as the tenth lucky winners.

 

The details of your winning are:

 

Ticket no: 27508036088-047

Batch no: BB-040-SB

Serial no: 798-6013

Pass code: 608

Reference no: QSL/411/233/05

 

To claim your prize money, simply contact your fiduciary agent by phone of email. His contact details are:

 

Mr. John McCarthy

Phone: +447031930422

Email: john2interlotto@aol.com

 

Quote your reference/batch numbers in your correspondence with us and you are advised to not to expose your numbers to avoid double claiming or voiding of your winning.

 

For security reasons, you are advised to keep your winning information confidential till your claims is processed and your money remitted to you. This is part of our precautionary measure to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program by some dubious individuals. Please be warned.

 

Congratulations!!

 

Notification Dept.

InterLotto Incorporation

#1 Plough Place

EC4A 1DE London

United Kingdom

 

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam