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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

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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:
  • "international lottery programme" (no such lottery exists)
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "00,000.00" (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 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.
  • rev_stevenduka3@yahoo.com

Fraud email example:

From: Australia Lotto Promo <aus_331@hotmail.com>
Date: Wed, 10 Oct 2007 08:59:47 +0100
Subject: Winning Notification of US$500,000.00


Date: 10/10/2007 Ref: 575061725 Batch: 8056490902/188 Winning no:KB8701/LPRC CONGRATULATIONS ! Dear Lucky winner We are delighted to inform you of your prize release on the 30th of June,2007 from the Australian International Lottery programme.Which is fully based on an electronic selection of winners using their e-mail addresses. Your name was attached to ticket number; 575061725 8056490902 serial number 6741137002 This batch draws the lucky numbers as follows 4-13-33-37-42bonus number 17,which consequently won the lottery in the second category. You here by have been approved a lump sum pay of US$500,000.00 (FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS) in cash credit file ref: ILP/MW 47509/02 from the total cash prize shared amongst eight lucky winners in this category. All participant were selected through a computer balloting system drawn from Nine hundred thousand E-mail addresses from Canada,Australia,United States, Asia, Europe, Middle East,Africa and Oceania as part of our international promotions program which is conducted annually.This Lottery was promoted and sponsored by a conglomorate of some multinational companies as part of their social responsibility to the citizens in the communities where they have operational base. Further more your details(e-mail address) falls within our African representative office in Owerri,as indicated in your play coupon and your prize of US$500,000.00 will be released to you from this regional branch ofice. We hope with part of your prize, you will participate in our end of year high stakes for US$1.3 Billion international draw. HOW TO CLAIM YOUR PRIZE: Simply contact our fiducial agent,Rev. Father Steve Nduka at (rev_stevenduka3@yahoo.com) to file for your claim.By sending him the following information: 1)Your full name 2)Your full contact address 3)Your direct telephone number(mobile) 4)Your Nationality 5)Your Age 6)Your present Occupation 7) Gender Please quote your Date of draw,reference, batch and winning numbers which can be found on the top left corner of this and telephone number to help locate your file easily. (NB)For security reasons, we advice all winners to keep this information confidential from the public until your claim is processed and your prize released to you. This is part our security protocol to avoid double claiming and unwarranted taking advantage of this programme by non-participant or unofficial personnel. Note,all winnings MUST be claimed on or before the 30th of OCTOBER 2007;otherwise all funds will be returned as Unclaimed and eventually donated to charity Congratulations once again on your winnings!!! Best Regards, Humphrey Nelson Co-Ordinator PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS EMAIL.CONTACT YOUR CLAIMS AGENT AT : (rev_stevenduka3@yahoo.com) ANY BREACH OF CONFIDENTIALITY ON THE PART OF WINNERS WILL RESULT TO AUTOMATIC DISQUALIFICATION

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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam