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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 fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
  • "suite 23-30,lion towers" (address often used in fake lottery scams)
• 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!

Fraud email example:

From: TANFIRELD CHAMBERS & ASSOCIATES LAW FIRM <foster44@emsergipe.com>
Reply-To: barr_henrycoleman@yahoo.co.uk
Date: Fri, 3 Aug 2007 06:54:49 -0300
Subject: DEAR BENEFICIARY.

THE FREELOTTO COMPANY.UK HEAD OFFICE,SUITE 23-30,LION TOWERS,CENTRAL LONDON,ENGLAND.=20Dear Winner,=20We are pleased to announce to you as one of the 10 lucky winners in this =year`s FreeLotto award draws sponsored by Honda Company UK. The draws was= held on the July 4th 2007. All 10 winning addresses were randomly select=ed from a batch of 50,000,000 international emails.Your email address eme=rged alongside 9 others as a category "A" consulation prize winner in th=is year's Annual Free Lotto Draw.=20=20Consequently,you have therefore been approved for a total pay out of 150 =000 pounds (One Hundred and Fifty Thousand Pounds) only in certified bank= cheque. The following particulars are attached to your lotto payment ord=er:=20(i) Winning numbers: 08-18-25-32-33-40(ii) Email tag number: FL754/22/76(iii) Lotto code number: FL09622UK(iv) File Ref number: FL/04/736207152/UK=20Please contact the underlisted Claims Officer as soon as possible for the= immediate re

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam