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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) 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.

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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:
  • "vittorio foundation" (not involved with lotteries)
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "hundred thousand united states 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)
  • "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 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.
  • +447031931558 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: Patrick Chan <patrick.chan9.8@hotmail.com>
Date: Mon, 12 Nov 2007 19:02:41 -0700
Subject: YOU ARE THE ECOWAS WINNER!



Fondazion Di Vittorio, ECOWAShttp://www.fondazionedivittorio.itBATCH NO: (N-222-6747,E-900-56)Congratulations as we bring to your notice! The Foundazion di Vittorio has chosen you by the board of trustees as one of the final recipients of a cash Grant/Donation for your own personal, educational, and business development. To celebrate the 30th anniversary program. We aregiving out a yearly donation of US$500,000.00 (Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars) to 40 lucky recipients, as charity donations/aidfrom the Vittorio Foundation, ECOWAS, EU and the UNO in accordance with the enabling act of Parliament, which is part of our promotion.To file for your claim. you are to fill out below information and send it to the Payment Remitance Office Via their email contact address:Full Name:Residential Address:Occupation:Country:Telephone:Fax Number:Sex:Age:Next of Kin:Winning Batch No:After the form understated been fill, you are to forwarded it to the payment remitance office in United Kingdom. Below their contact information so as to speed up the processing of your claim as soon as possible. You are to contact the Remitant Officer via phone for more information (Payment Remitance Contact)Mr Tony BarryE-Mail: foundaz.ecowas01@yahoo.co.ukTel: 44 703 193 1558 44 703 192 9114 44 703 192 8957 44 703 191 0297Also in order to avoid unnecessary delays and complications, remember to quote your batch numbers and the following details; in all your correspondence message.Best Regards.Mr. Carlo GhezziFoundation President
_________________________________________________________________
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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam