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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
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• 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!

Fraud email example:

From: Alicia Woodgate <aliciawogate@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Fri, 10 Aug 2007 09:15:02 +0100 (BST)
Subject: Claims and Verification form.


Dear Winner,

Congratulations once again from all the staff here. In order to verify your winnings, we need your particulars for record purposes, please fill the information required in the spaces below to proceed.

VERIFICATION

1.FULL NAMES:
2.ADDRESS:
3.SEX:
4.AGE:
5.MARITAL STATUS:
6.OCCUPATION:
7.E-MAIL ADDRESS:
8.TELEPHONE NUMBER:
9.FAX NUMBER:
9.REFERENCE NUMBER:
11.BATCH NUMBER:
12. COUNTRY

The options of prize payment remittance are listed below, you are expected to pick the option that best suits you in your response to this mail;

(1) Courier option: where winners prizes are made out in bank drafts and remitted through secured and fast freight delivery services.


(2) Bank Wire Transfer:


Please do respond soonest with your choice option.

Congratulations!!!

Yours Faithfully,

Mrs. Alicia Woodgate.


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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam