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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:
  • "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.
  • +447031893230 (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.
  • msmith_claimsagent@yahoo.co.uk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: United Mega <unitedmegax22@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: <msmith_claimsagent@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Wed, 31 Oct 2007 13:59:03 +0000
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS WINNER...




Microsoft Award Team50 Craven Park, Harlesden London NW10 United KingdomRef: UKNL-L/200-26937 Batch: 2005MJL-01
Dear Winner,

CONGRATULATION! CONGRATULATION!! CONGRATULATION!!!

The prestigious Microsoft and AOL has set out and successfully organized a Sweepstakes marking the year 2007 anniversary we rolled out over £ 4,419,864 for our end of year Anniversary Draws. Participants for the draws were randomly selected and drawn from a wide range of web hosts which we enjoy their patronage.

The selection was made through a computer draw system attaching personalized email addresses to ticket numbers. If you ignore this, you will regret it later. Microsoft and AOL are now the largest Internet companies and in an effort to make sure that Internet Explorer remains the most widely used program, Microsoft and AOL are running an e-mail beta test.

Your email address as indicated was drawn and attached to ticket number 008795727498 with serial numbers BTD/9080648302/06 and drew the lucky numbers 14-21-25-39-40-47(20) which subsequently won you £350, 000.00 (Three Hundred and Fifty Thousand Great Britain Pounds) as one of the 5 jackpot winners in this draw. You have therefore won the entire winning sum of £350, 000.00 (Three Hundred and Fifty Thousand Great Britain Pounds) the draws registered as Draw number one was conducted in Brockley, London United Kingdom on this year 2007. These Draws are commemorative and as such special. Please be informed by this winning notification to file your claims, you are to make contact with your fiduciary agent who shall by duty guide you through the process to facilitate the release of your prize.

To file for your claim Please Contact your fiduciary agent in the contact information below: Name: Mr. Michael Smith
Tel: +44 703-1893230Email: msmith_claimsagent@yahoo.co.uk
You are advised to contact your fiduciary agent with the following details to avoid unnecessary delays and complications:

FILL OUT THE BELOW VERIFICATION FORM AND SEND TO YOUR FIDUCIARY AGENT

FULL NAME..................................................
FULL ADDRESS:...............................................NATIONALITY:................................................SEX:................................................................AGE:...............................................................PHONE/MOBILE:................................................FAX:..................................................................OCCUPATION:.....................................................COUNTRY OF RESIDENCE:...............................WINNING E-MAIL:..............................................
BATCH/NUMBER:..............................................LUCKY NUMBER:................................................TICKET NUMBER:................................................SERIAL NUMBER:.............................................REFERENCE NUMBER:........................................

Our special thanks and gratitude to Bill Gates and his associates. We wish you the best of luck as you spend your good fortune in this season.

Note: You have One week from the date of this publication to claim your prize or you may forfeit your winnings. In compliance with the sponsoring bodies, you are to make a remittance of a part of your won fund, not lower than 10-percent after receiving your allocation to a charity organization.

Thank you for being part of our commemorative end of year Anniversary Draws.

Mrs. Lillian DianaMicrosoft Promotion TeamVice President.
_________________________________________________________________
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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam