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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:
  • "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
  • "transfer of your funds" (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.
  • +31614681956 (Netherlands, prepaid mobile phone)
• 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.
  • financierac@europe.com
  • remittanceoffnv@aim.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: Mrs.Julie Cruz <juliecruzfl@aim.com>
Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2007 20:20:09 +0200
Subject: Vodafone International Award: Contact the paying bank!!!

Vodafone International ®
Tongelresestraat 21-23,
1043 EK, Eindhoven,
The Netherlands.

Dear Sir/Madam,

Congratulations! We are pleased to inform you of the result of the Vodafone International Inc program
held on the 16h of April, 2007. Your email address attached to ticket #: 34090322816 with prize #
43568000/12 drew $1,000,000.00 Cash Classic which was first in the 1st Category of the draws.

You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of ONE MILLION UNITED STATE DOLLAR
($1,000,000.00 USD) in cash credited to reference number: AFA/7854545411/NT made available from
a total cash prize of Ten{10} Million United State Dollars, shared amongst the first Ten (10) lucky winners
in this category. This year Lottery Program Jackpot is the largest ever for Snowball Lottery.

Remember, all winning must be claimed not later than 20 days of this notification, after the expiration of
that time frame, if your fund is unclaimed, it will be refunded to us and included in our next draws. We
hope you will use part of your cash prize to participate in our next $18million draws in August 2007.

Lastly, in order to avoid unnecessary delays/complications with the transfer of your funds to you and to
complete legalization and notarization of your winning prize, please always remember to quote your code
number{s} in all correspondence with our corresponding bank.

SNS BANK N.V
=================
Mrs. C. Jerome
Mr. J.V.M Van Heeswijk {Dir}
Mr. J.den Hoed {Dir}
Mr. J. Stafford
Tel: 0031-614-681-956
Email: financierac@europe.com
Email: remittanceoffnv@aim.com

Furthermore, should there be any change of your present address, please notify us immediately so to
make the appropriate adjustment.

Congratulations from the management and staffs of Vodafone International Inc .

Yours faithfully,

Mrs. Julie Cruz
Coordinator/Manager

***************************************************************************
DISCLAIMER: Copyright © 1999-2007 Vodafone International Inc all rights reserved. E&OE.
Reproduction in whole or part in any form or medium without the expressed written permission of
Vodafone International Inc is prohibited.
***************************************************************************

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam