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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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• What can you do when you receive 419 spam
  
  
• Spam archive, Daily index
  

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")
  • "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.
  • mailsimonlee@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: info@freelotto.com
Reply-To: mailsimonlee@gmail.com
Date: Mon, 04 Feb 2008 22:50:43 -1100
Subject: PROMOTIONS/PRIZE AWARD!!!

Dear Winner,
WINNING FINAL NOTIFICATION
We are officially informing you of the result of the Lottery Winners International programs held on the 5th of February
2008 as part of our promotional programmes for the year 2008. Your e-mail address attached to ticket number
77007742781005-18721 with reference number 414-3721060 drew winning numbers 7-00-71-00-66-49 and credited to batch
number 121cfc, which consequently won in the 1st category via our electronic ticket as stated above.You have therefore
been approved for a pay out of 1,800,000.00 (One Million Eight Hundred Thousand Pounds). For verification please fill
the form below and forward it to our fiduciary agent the person of :Simon Lee
Email: mailsimonlee@gmail.com


CUSTOMER SERVICES
FREE LOTTERY INTERNATIONAL PROMOTION
PROMOTIONS/PRIZE AWARD DEPT
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM.
ADDRESS: 184 ,BEAK STREET,LONDON W1F 9DB


PRIZE AWARD VERIFICATION FORM

PERSONAL DETAILS:
NAME:
ADDRESS:
CITY:
STATE:
ZIP CODE:
TEL:
FAX:
HOME TEL:
EMAIL ADDRESS:
ADDRESS:
OCCUPATION:
MARITAL STATUS:
DATE OF BIRTH:
PRIZE WINNING DETAILS:
TICKET NUMBER:
NAME OF AGENT:
NAME OF RECEIVER:

Kind Regard,
Mrs Matilda Jones

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam