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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
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• 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.

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Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

• An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
• The following fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
  • "australian lottery" (can only win this lottery if you bought a ticket)
  • "international lottery programme" (no such lottery exists)
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "claim agent" (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.
  • +2348023560936 (Nigeria, prepaid mobile phone)
• 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.
  • officeofclaimagen2007@yahoo.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: INFO WEATHER AUSTRALIAN LOTTERY INC <weatheraustralian4@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: <officeofclaimagen2007@yahoo.com>
Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2007 03:44:22 -0600
Subject: You Have Won 2007 Weather Australian Lottery Programme



FROM:THE DESK OF THE CO-ORDINATOR INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS/PRIZE AWARDS DEPARTMENT. THE WEATHER AUSTRALIAN LOTTERY INTERNATIONAL. THE GREAT WEATHER LOTTERY INTERNATIONAL. Date of draw: 24th of july 2007Ref: 7458222754Batch: 905534213/255Winning no: XB3/701/LNRCAmount; US$950.000,00. CONGRATULATIONS!!
Dear Lucky winner,THE GREAT WEATHER LOTTERY INTERNATIONAL in partnership with THE WEATHER AUSTRALIAN LOTTERY INTERNATIONAL are delighted to inform you of your prize release on the 25tht of july 2007 from the Australian international lottery programme 2007, Which is fully based on an electronic selection of winners using your email address, which was attached to ticket number 7458222754,905534213 serial number 6741137002.This batch draws the lucky numbers as follows 2-17-43-47-52 bonus number 17,which consequently won the lottery in the second category.
You here by have been approved a lump sum pay of Amount;US$950.000,00 (NINE HUNDRED AND FIVE THOUSAND, AMERICAN DOLLARS) in cash creditted to file with ref no: ILP/MW 47509/02 from the total cash prize shared amongst eight lucky winners in this category. All participant were selected through a computer balloting system drawn from Nine hundred thousand E-mail addresses from Uk, Canada, Australia, United States, Asia, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Oceania as part of our international promotions program which is conducted annually.
This Lottery was promoted and sponsored by conglomerates of some multinational companies as part of their social responsibility to the citizens in the communities where they have operational base.
Further more your details (Name/e-mail address) fall within our AFRICAN representative office in NIGERIA, as indicated in your play coupon and your prize of US$950.000,00 will be released to you from our regional branch office in NIGERIA. Simply contact the office of our claim Agent with this Information below;
NAME; Rev.Dr.paul odedeEMAIL; officeofclaimagen2007@yahoo.com
PHONE; +234-802-356-0936
We hope with part of your prize, you will participate in our end of year high stakes for Uk $1.3 million international draw.
Please quote your Date of draw, reference, batch and winning numbers, and amount,which can be found on the top left corner of this letter and provide your telephone number to help locate your file easily. For security reasons, we advice all winners to keep this informationonfidential from the public until your claim is processed and your prize released to you.
This is part of our security protocol to avoid double claiming and unwarranted taking advantage of this programme by non-participant or unofficial personnel.
Note, all winnings MUST be claimed on or before 30th of August 2007; otherwise all funds will be returned as Unclaimed and eventually donated to charity homes. Congratulations once again on your winnings!!!Sincerely,Mrs Grace Karimu,Promotion Manager.
_________________________________________________________________
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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam