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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:
  1 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
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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:
  • "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")
• 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 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.
  • electronic1lotto@aim.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "Mr.Bremen." <electronis1lotto@aim.com>
Date: Sun, 11 Nov 2007 21:59:41 -0400
Subject: RE: YOUR UNCLAIMED PRIZE FROM N.L. LOTTO AWARD


FROM THE DESK OF AWARD DEPARTMENT
NETHERLANDS GOVERNMENT ACCREDITED
LICENSED LOTTERY
REF NO: NSW/56B-672GH/L
BATCH: 4583JL/WIN

Dear Lucky Winner,

RE: ELECTRONIC LOTTO PROMOTION PRIZE AWARDS WINNING NOTIFICATION!

We the N.L LOTTO wish to Inform you that your Lottery winning of
1.000.000.00 Euros(One Million Euros Only) which you won on the N.L. LOTTO
August 2007 Award has been returned to us by the agent as unclaimed prize
after their initial letter to your email address for your award claim.

Note that all participants in this program were selected randomly through
our Computer Ballot System, drawn from 85.000.000 Internet users from all
search engines. Your e-mail address was picked by the automated Computer
Ballot System, which was programmed for this random selection.

Your E-mail address attached to WINNER NUMBER 4, with serial Number:
7741137002 and drew the lucky numbers: 23-76-06-54-42-100, Ref
No.NSW/56B-672GH/L and Batch No: 4583JL/WIN which consequently won in the
3rd lottery category.

You have therefore been approved for lump sum pay of 1.000.000.00
Euros(One Million Euros Only) credited to file REF NO: NSW/56B-672GH/L. This
is from the total prize money of 8,800,000.00 Euros which is to be shared
among the international lucky winners in this category.

These Draws are commemorative and as such special to encourage the use of
Computers and Internet worldwide.No Ticket was sold for these Lottery award.

Having returned your unclaimed award funds back to our treasury by our
Lotto claims agent, we write officially to give you the last chance to claim
your award. We advise you to contact our remittance department for more
information concerning the verification, processing and payment of the above
prize to you.

REMITTANCE DEPARTMENT:
E-MAIL: electronic1lotto@aim.com
CONTACT PERSON: MR. FRED MARTEN.

You are hereby advise to keep your winning information confidential from
the public, until you have received your cash prize. This is part of our
security protocol to avoid double claiming and the act of hacking people off
their prizes.

Note in order to avoid unnecessary delays and complications, remember to
quote your reference and batch numbers in all correspondence.You are also
advised to provide him with the under listed information as soon as
possible:

1. Name in full
2. Address
3. Nationality
4. Age
5. Occupation
6. Phone/Fax,

Furthermore, should there be any change of address do inform your claim
agent as soon as possible.

Yours Sincerely,

Mr.Stanley Bremen
Coordinator(Prize Award Dept.)

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam