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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:

• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "from: the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • "claim agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "courier service" (Courier companies mentioned in 419 scams are always fake. They will have you send money to them, but won't deliver anything. )
• 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.
  • wright.stephanie_wright07@yahoo.com

Fraud email example:

From: Tinapa Lotto <tinapa070017@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: <stephanie_wright07@yahoo.com>
Date: Wed, 23 May 2007 06:11:12 -0600
Subject: Congratulations on your winning.



FROM: THE DESK OF THE VICE PRESIDENT MR.FRANK IBE. (TINAPA LOTTO INTERNATIONAL) PRIZE AWARD DEPT. Dear Winner, Congratulations on your winning. All participants were selected randomly from World Wide Web Site through computer ballot system extracted from over 100,000 companies and individuals. This promotion takes Place annually. Your email address attached to ticket number: 021-7276083-04 with serial number: 31270-0 drew the lucky numbers 05-06-12-14-38, which subsequently won you the lottery in the second category. You have therefore won us from the lottery $2.5m dollars as your winning prize. You are required to forward the following details to your claim agent with the under listed information as soon as possible send it to her email address below to help Facilitate the processing of your certificate and the release of your winnings. Mrs. Stephanie Wright.stephanie_wright07@yahoo.com 1. Name in full 2. Address 3. Nationality 4. Age 5. Occupation 6. Phone/Fax 7. Batch Number 8. Serial Number You are advised to forward this information as soon as possible to enable us attend to your file. You are also to choose the mode, which you want to collect your funds: PAYMENT OPTIONS. i Travel down to personally collect it. ii. This is for those who can not travel we will process the winnings and then package and send it via courier service but you will have to PAY FOR THE SERVICES. All winnings must be claimed not later than one month After the date ofthis notice. Once again congratulations. Sincerely,MR.FRANK IBE.VICE PRESIDENT.TINAPA LOTTO INT'L PROTOCOLS AND GRAND (FOR TINAPA LOTTERY INTERNATIONAL.) NB: PLEASE INDICATE A PAYMENT OPTION.
_________________________________________________________________
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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam