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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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• Spam archive, Daily index
  

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:
  • "claims director" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
• 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.
  • +447045717622 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: MSW LOTTERY BOARD NOTIFICATION <tonytoka07@hotmail.com>
Date: Mon, 16 Jul 2007 11:50:00 -0400
Subject: YOU HAVE WON



We are pleased to inform you of the announcement today of our end of year winners of the MSW MEGA JACKPOT LOTTO WINNINGS PROGRAMS held on26th of June 2007.Your company or your personal e-mail address, is attached to winning number8-21 JUN-2007-02MSW, with serial number S/N-00168 drew the lucky numbers887-13-865-37-10-83, and consequently won in the first lottery category.
You have therefore been approved for a lump sum pay out of 500,000.00 GBP credited to file REF NO: MSW-L/200-26937.This is from total prize money of GBP 2,500,000.00 POUNDS, shared among the 5 international winners in this category.
To claim your winning prize, kindly submit the under listed information to your claims director with his contact email address below: Name, Address, Nationality, Sex, Email Address, Phone no, Occupation, Age.Name: MR.TONY TOKAE-mail:microsoftmanagement2@yahoo.dkTel: +44 70457 17622Sincerely,Mr. Tony Toka
_________________________________________________________________
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http://imagine-windowslive.com/hotmail/?locale=en-us&ocid=TXT_TAGHM_migration_HMWL_mini_pcmag_0707

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam