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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:

• An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "claims office" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • ",000,000" (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.
  • +447017118319 (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.
  • dennisrega2@myway.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "WEB INFO" <web-info@1209499.btconnect.com>
Date: Sat, 4 Aug 2007 10:14:54 +0100
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!2ND CATEGORY

REF: EML/56-TF-8890776
UK CONVENTRY PROMOTIONS
National Office,
157-197 Buckingham Palace Road,
Victoria, London SW1W 9SP,

REF: EML/56-TF-8890776
BATCH: 109/91300/EML
PRIZE AND AWARD NOTIFICATION
We are pleased to inform you of the announcement today of winners of the UK CONVENTRY EMAIL LOTTERY MEGA JACKPOT WINNINGS PROGRAMS held on Friday, 18th of May 2007.
Your company or your personal e-mail address, is attached to ticket number 9901-0148-790-691, with serial number 66109-17 drew the luckynumbers 990-11-815-37-10-83, and consequently won the lottery in the 2nd category.
You have therefore been approved for a lump sum pay out of £500,000.00 in cash credited to file REF NO: EML/ 56-TF-8890776.This is from total prize money of £5,000,000.00 shared among the Ten (10) international winners in this category.
To claim your winning prize, you must first contact the claims department by email or phone for processing and remittance of your prize money to you.
The claims officer contact email is:
MR. Dennis Rega
UK CONVENTRY LOTTERY,U.K.
Tel/fax: +44 701 711 8319, 44 795 810 6988, 44 871 264 0975
Email: Dennisrega2@myway.com

You are also advised to provide him with the under listed information as soon as possible;
1. Reference and Batch Number
2. Names in full
3. Telephone and Fax
Congratulations again from all our staff for being part of our promotions program.
Sincerely,
HARRIET FERRARO
CONVENTRY PROMOTIONS.
Copyright (c) 2007 Euro Millions Inc.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam