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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: =?iso-8859-1?q?Free=20Lotto=20Promo=20Inc=A9=202007?= <free.lottoinc@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Thu, 3 May 2007 19:31:50 +0100 (BST)
Subject: RE:{Spam?} CONGRATULATIONS!!! Maddalena Fiedmann


Dear Frau Fiedmann

I received your email,and i quite understand your apprehension,relating to the fact that you have been a victim of scam before.

Be that as it may,it is imperative that you know that if there is no real lottery like this one there will not be any fake scam or illegal lottery promotions.In this regards,we want to urge you to feel free and discontinue if you do not wish to claim your winnings with this lottery promotion,otherwise you are adviced to provide the requested informations so that our prize processing and payout department can approve your winnings payout for further remittance to you.

We await your prompt response.


Congratulations once more.


Yours faithfully,
Mr.David Flowell
Free Lottery Online Promo UK © 2007


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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam