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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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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:

• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "from the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "hundred thousand 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 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.
  • +31617683918 (Netherlands, prepaid mobile phone)

Fraud email example:

From: NOTIFICATION DESK <notifierdesk08@hotmail.com>
Date: Fri, 18 May 2007 02:23:52 -0600
Subject: CONGRATULATION !!! CLAIM YOUR PRIZE.



FROM THE DESK OF THE DIRECTOR INTERNATIONAL WORLDWIDE INTERNET USER LOTTERY PRIZE AWARD DEPT.Attn:Lucky Winner, YOUR WINNING NOTIFICATION FOR USING THE INTERNET. We are 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 $2,500,000.00 (Two Million Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars) 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 winning cash prize, you are advised to contact our certifiedand accreditted claims agent for category "A" winners with the information below: CLAIMS AGENT.Name: Harry SmithEmail: infowebex03@yahoo.deTel: +31-61-7683918 You are advised to provide him with the following information: First name:Last Name:Telephone/Fax number:Nationality:Age: Occupation:Ref Number:Batch Number: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. 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!!! And thank you for being a user of the World Wide Web. Thanks,Marry Jones,Lottery Co-ordinator!!
_________________________________________________________________
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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam