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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.

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 fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
  • "urban lottery international" (no such lottery exists)
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "from: the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • "claim agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "million us dollars" (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)
  • "million dollars" (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)
  • ",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.
  • +2348033864889 (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.
  • revchristbrown@yahoo.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: revchrist brown <rev_christ123@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: <revchristbrown@yahoo.com>
Date: Sat, 22 Sep 2007 20:06:23 +0100
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS FOR YOUR WINNING!!!!!!
























CONGRATULATIONS

FROM: THE DESK OF THE VICE PRESIDENTREV.CHRIST BROWN. (UNITED NATION-URBAN LOTTERY INTERNATIONAL)
PRIZE AWARD DEPT. REF NO: 15/0018/IPDBATCH NO: EGS/ 22504002/04 ATTN: WINNER. RE: AWARD NOTIFICATION, FINAL NOTICE. WE ARE PLEASED TO INFORM YOU, THAT AS A RESULT OF OUR RECENT LOTTERY DRAWS HELD ON THE 3RD OF AUG. 2007.YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS ATTACHED TO TICKET NUMBER:085-12876077-09 WITH SERIAL NUMBER:51390-0 DREW LUCKY NUMBERS:03-05-12-14-38 WHICH CONSEQUENTLY WON IN THE 5TH CATEGORY.YOU HAVE THEREFORE BEEN APPROVED FOR A LUMP SUM PAY OF (ONE MILLION US DOLLARS ONLY) IN CASH CREDITED TO FILE WITH REF: º.EGS/3662367114/13.NOTE THAT ALL PARTICIPANTS IN THIS LOTTERY PROGRAM HAVE BEEN SELECTED RANDOMLY THROUGH A COMPUTER BALLOT SYSTEM DRAWN FROM OVER 20,000 OFFICIALS AND 30,000,000 INDIVIDUAL EMAIL ADDRESSES FROM ALL SEARCH ENGINES AND WEB SITES,FROM ASIA, AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, EUROPE, NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA, MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA, AS PART OF OUR INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS PROGRAM. THIS PROMOTIONAL PROGRAM TAKES PLACE EVERY YEAR,AND IS PROMOTED AND SPONSORED BY EMINENT PERSONALITIES LIKE THE SULTAN OF BRUNEI,BILL GATES OF MICROSOFT INC AND OTHER CORPORATE ORGANIZATIONS.THIS IS TO ENCOURAGE THE USE OF THE INTERNET AND COMPUTERS WORLDWIDE. YOUR FUND IS NOW DEPOSITED WITH UNION BANK AND INSURED IN YOUR NAME FOR SECURITY PURPOSE AND CLARITY,WE ADVISE THAT YOU KEEP YOUR WINNING INFORMATION CONFIDENTIAL UNTIL YOUR CLAIMS HAVE BEEN PROCESSED AND YOUR MONEY REMITTED TO YOUR ACCOUNT.THIS IS PART OF OUR SECURITY PROTOCOL TO AVOID DOUBLE CLAIMS AND UNWARRANTED ABUSE OF THIS PROGRAM BY SOME PARTICIPANTS.WE LOOK FORWARD TO YOUR ACTIVE PARTICIPATION IN OUR NEXT 4 MILLION DOLLARS SLOT. TO BEGIN THE PROCESSING OF YOUR PRIZE YOU ARE TO CONTACT YOUR CLAIMS AGENT THROUGH OUR ACCREDITED PRIZE TRANSFER AGENTS AS STATED BELOW: REV.(DR)CHRIST BROWN TEL: +234-803-3864889
CALL HIM IMMEDIATELY WITH HIS ABOVE DIRECT PHONE NUMBER IF YOU ARE CALLING FROM (USA) THIS IS HOW YOU DIAL 011-234-803-3864889 WHEN CONTACTING YOUR CLAIM AGENT, YOU ARE ADVISED TO PROVIDE HIM WITH ALL UNDER LISTED INFORMATION AS SOON AS POSSIBLE SEND IT TO HIS EMAIL ADDRESS BELOW, CLAIM AGENT E MAIL ADDRESSES

E-MAIL: revchristbrown@yahoo.com
1. NAME IN FULL:................2. ADDRESS:........................3. NATIONALITY:..................4. AGE:...........5. OCCUPATION:................6. PHONE/FAX:........................7.TICKET NUMBER:...................8.SERIAL NUMBER:.....................9.LUCKY NUMBERS:.....................10.BATCH NO:.......................
ALL WINNINGS MUST BE CLAIMED NOT LATER THAN TWO MONTHS AFTER THE DATE OF THIS NOTICE.PLEASE NOTE, IN ORDER TO AVOID UNNECESSARY DELAYS AND COMPLICATIONS, REMEMBER TO QUOTE YOUR REFERENCE NUMBER AND BATCH NUMBERS IN ALL CORRESPONDENCE.

FURTHERMORE, SHOULD THERE BE ANY CHANGE OF ADDRESS DO INFORM OUR AGENT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.CONGRATULATIONS!!!ONCE MORE AND THANK YOU FOR BEING PART OF OUR PROMOTIONAL PROGRAM.BEAR IN MIND THAT 10% OF YOUR FUND WILL BE GOING TO THE LOTTERY ORGANIZATION THAT PLAYED THE LOTTERY WITH PEOPLES NAME AND EMAIL ADDRESSES THAT SHOULD BE AFTER YOU MOST HAVE RECEIVED THE FUND IN YOUR ACCOUNT,THE 10% WOULD HAVE BEEN GIVEN TO THEM,JUST BECAUSE THE FUND HAS BEEN INSURED AND WILL NOT BE REMOVED TILL YOU RECEIVE THE FUND IN YOUR ACCOUNT. SINCERELY, REV. CHRIST BROWN.
VICE PRESIDENT.UNITED NATION-URBAN LOTTERY.
LAST WINNERS ON URBAN LOTTERY ONLINE GAME.


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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam