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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:
  • "fiduciary 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.
  • +447045738865 (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.
  • colebrown@walla.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: Yahoo Awards <p_walcott101@hotmail.com>
Date: Mon, 13 Aug 2007 01:18:31 +0100
Subject: Prize Award Notice





Yahoo Splash Promotions 11-13 Victoria Street Liverpool L2 5QQUnited Kingdom --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------This is to inform you that you have won a prize money of Ninety Seven Thousand, Five Hundred Great Britain Pounds (GBP97,500) for the 2007 Prize Promotion which is Organized by YAHOO AWARDS & WINDOWS LIVE. YAHOO!
collects all the email addresses of the people that are active online,
among the millions that subscribed to Yahoo and Hotmail and few from
other e-mail providers. Six people are selected monthly to benefit from
this promotion and you are one of the Selected Winners. PAYMENT OF PRIZE AND CLAIM Winners
shall be paid in accordance with his/her Settlement Center. Yahoo Prize
Award must be claimed not later than 15 days from date of Draw
Notification. Any prize not claimed within this period will be
forfeited. Stated below are your identification numbers: BATCH NUMBER: YPA/07-43658REFERENCE NUMBER: 2007234522PIN: 1206 These numbers fall within the England Location file and you are requested to contact our fiduciary agent in Liverpool and send your winning identification numbers to him; Agent Name: Cole Brown E-Mail: colebrown@walla.com Tel: +44 704 573 8865 As soon as our agent hears from you, he shall commence the process that will facilitate the release of your fund to you. Congratulations!! once again. Yours in service, Dr. (Mrs.) Pauline Walcott ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WARNING!Do
not tell people about your Prize Award until your money is successfully
handed over to you to avoid disqualification that may arise from double
claim.You may also receive similar e-mails from people potraying to be other Organizations or Yahoo Inc.
This is solely to collect your personal information from you and lay
claim over your winning. In event that you receive any e-mail similar
to the notification letter that was sent to you, Kindly delete it from
your mail box and give no further correspondence to such person or body. Yahoo shall not be held responsible for any loss of fund arising from the above mentioned.

_________________________________________________________________
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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam