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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:

• 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.
  • +447035902690 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
• 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.
  • first_fc@financier.com

Fraud email example:

From: POWERBALL LOTTERY <pball_claimagent@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Wed, 11 Jul 2007 19:07:46 +0100 (BST)
Subject: Contact your allocated funding Company


Dear Winner ,

Congratulations once again on behalf of the UK POWERBALL LOTTERY BOARD.

Note that your allocated funding Company email address provided below has been authorized by the UK Powerball Lottery because of the high scam rate .
There are NO CHARGES on your part to pay for. IS FREE.

If you wish to decline making your claim, please click the link below to stop recieving our emails.

http:// declineclaim/ukpowerballotto/co.uk

Contact your allocated funding Company; FIRST CAPITAL FUNDING COMPANY in the UK. Email first_fc@financier.com including your reference #, names and date of draw.

Mr. Wilson Mathew

Company's Email address: first_fc@financier.com
Company's Phone #: +44 703 590 2690
Company's Fax #: +44 845 280 4483

They have all authorization to process your claim and will pay for the charges leaving no cost for you.

BE WARNED you are advised to keep your winning information confidential till your claims is processed and your money remitted to you in whatever manner you deem fit to claim your prize. This is part of our precautionary measure to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program.


Mr. Craig Robins,
Head Of Accounts Dept,
POWERBALL LOTTERY INC.


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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam