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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:

• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
  • "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "million pounds" (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.
  • jim_long02@yahoo.com

Fraud email example:

From: jim long <jim_long7@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: <jim_long02@yahoo.com>
Date: Thu, 8 Nov 2007 17:15:39 -0800
Subject: MICROSOFT LUCKY WINNER...



Dear Sir/Madam,
The Board of Directors, Members and staff of MICROSOFT COMPANYare pleased to inform you of the result of the just concludedannual MSW final draws to which you were selected via email,Your email address has been chosen as one of our winningemail address for this month. You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of OneMillion Pounds in cash credited to MSW-L/200-26937.
Please Contact your claims agent by email.
Mr.JIM LONG. E-m@il: jim_long02@yahoo.com
Also provide the following: Full Names/Address/Age/Sex/Marital Status/Occupation/Mobile/Cell Numbers/Country.
MRS. PATRICIA LAWRENCE LOTTERY CO-ORDINATOR/ANNOUNCER.
_________________________________________________________________
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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam