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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:

• An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
• 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.
  • tomgatebmw@hotmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "BMW AUTOS." <bmwlottery555@bellsouth.net>
Reply-To: tomgatebmw@hotmail.com
Date: Thu, 22 Nov 2007 11:05:21 +0000
Subject: Ticket Number: 5647600545188

Ticket Number: 5647600545188
Serial number: BMWP/556543450906
Attention: Lucky Winner,

We are happy to announce that you are one of our Lucky Four(4)Star Prize Winner in this months edition of the BMW International OnlinePromotion held on 20th of November 2007 in London.This makes you a proud owner of a Brand New BMW 5series Car and a cash amount of Five HundredThousand Great British Pounds.To claim your prize,it is important that you acknowledge your receipt of this correspondence.(Reply this email:tomgatebmw@hotmail.com)

Best Regards,
Micheal Smith.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam