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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")
  • "million united states dollars" (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 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.
  • claimsproceed@yahoo.de (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
  • ls_dept@yahoo.com.hk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "INTERNATIONAL PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT" <mrvanpeppleqwisdr@aim.com>
Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2007 01:26:09 +0700
Subject: THIS IS YOUR CONFIRMATION

FROM THE CO-COORDINATOR WORLDWIDE INTERNET USER LOTTERY PROMOTIONS

Dear Internet User,

YOUR WINNING NOTIFICATION FOR USING THE INTERNET.

I am pleased to inform you that one of the best things that can happen
to
any Internet user is to be rewarded for spending money and time on the
Internet. You may not have known that over one hundred billion people
daily
surf the Internet on regular basis for one reason or other. These
Internet
users including yourself, pay access fees to various Internet Service
Providers (ISP) all over the word who in turn remit surplus funds to
the
numerous World Wide Internet Technology Companies (WWITC) for the
development and advancement of Global Information Technology.

So much money is generated from people like you all over the World for
using the Information Superhighway (the Internet) without your being
aware
the enormous sum that go to the stake holders (WWWITC). Without your
patronage, this would not have been possible. After we conducted a
research
on the issue, we concluded that Internet users should be compensated.
As a
result, we embarked on a worldwide lottery promotion with a
sophisticated
automated database to randomly select E-mail accounts that frequently
surf
the Internet. Consequent upon this, your E-mail address was picked for
Category “A” Winners.

After the automated computer ballot, your E-mail address emerged as a
winner in the category "A" with the following numbers attached

Ref Number: PW EH 9590 OG 0612,
Batch Number: PA 563881545-NL/2007


You and other category “A” winners are therefore to receive a cash
prize of
Five Million United States Dollars ($5,000,000.00) respectively from
the
total payout of One Billion US Dollars earmarked in the lottery for
category
“A” winners. Your prize award has been insured with your E-mail
address,
which qualified you for the lottery and will be transferred to you upon
meeting our requirements, statutory obligations, verifications,
validations
and satisfactory proof of E-mail address ownership.

To file in for the processing of your money, you are advised to contact
our
certified
and accredited claims agent for category "A" winners with the
information
below:

CLAIMS AGENT.
Name: Ben Anderson
Phone: 00316 428 863 15
Email: claimsproceed@yahoo.de
ls_dept@yahoo.com.hk
You will provide him with the following information:

First name:
Last Name:
Telephone/Fax number:
Nationality:
Age:
Occupation:


NOTE: All winnings must be claimed not later than 14 days, thereafter
unclaimed funds would be forfeited after a trio repeated forwarding of
this
message to you without your response. Remember to quote your reference
information in all correspondence. (Ref No: PW EH 9590 OG 0612, Batch
No: PA
563881545-NL/2007),


You are to keep all lotto information confidential, especially your
reference numbers and the password of your E-mail address. Since we do
not
know you, if an impostor hacks your E-mail account ID and claims your
money
without our knowledge, we shall not be liable. Double claims will not
be
entertained so be careful. Furthermore, should there be any change of
address do inform our agent as soon as possible.

Congratulations! Thank you for being a user of the World Wide Web.


Yours Faithfully,

Yours
Faithfully,
Barry Van Klejg
Lottery Coordinator.
Thank you and
congratulations!!!

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam