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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
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• 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.
• The following fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
  • "20 craven park, harlesden" (address often used in fake lottery scams)
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "fiduciary agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • ",000,000" (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 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.
  • microsoft_lottory84@yahoo.co.uk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: MICROSOFT GROUP AWARD TEAM MICROSOFT GROUP <morgan_morris79@hotmail.com>
Date: Mon, 3 Dec 2007 07:27:24 +0000
Subject: WINNING NOTIFICATION (Ref: BTD/968/07)



Microsoft Award Team20 Craven Park, HarlesdenLondon NW10United KingdomRef: BTD/968/07Batch: 409978E

Dear Lucky Winner,
The prestigious Microsoft in conjunction with MSN and Yahoo Group has set out and sucessfully organised a Sweep stakes marking the end of year anniversary. We rolled out over 1,000.000.00GBP (One Million Great Britain Pounds) 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 BETA patronage attaching personalised email addresses to ticket numbers.Your email address as indicated was drawn and attached to ticket number 0098876 serial numbers MSL099876 and drew the lucky numbers 9-21-17-39-23-13(20) which subsequently won you 1,000,000.00GBP (One Million Great Britain Pounds) as one of the 10 jackpot winners in this draw held 25th October,2007 and results released today 23rd Nov,2007. To file for your claim, kindly Contact your fiduciary agent with the email address below:

Mr.Morgan MorrisMicrosoft Award Team.Email:microsoft_lottory84@yahoo.co.uk
FULL NAME:.................................WINNING E-MAIL ADDRESS:............FULL ADDRESS:...............SEX:......................AGE:.................OCCUPATION:...........TEL:................COUNTRY:.........HAVE YOU WON A LOTTERY BEFORE?............

Sincerely,

Mr.MORGAN MORRIS,Head Customercare ServiceMicrosoft Award Team



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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam