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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
• Support our efforts to stop scams!
  
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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:

• The following fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
  • "vittorio fondazione" (not involved with lotteries)
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • ",500,000" (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)
• 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!

Fraud email example:

From: NETBUSINESS/MEGAMILLION <onlinemegamillion@netbusiness.com>
Date: Wed, 6 Feb 2008 21:01:59 GMT
Subject: Claims Notification


ONLINE INTERNATIONAL SUBSCRIBERS AGENCY
INTERNATIONAL PROMOTION / PRIZE AWARD INFORMATION .


FROM: THE MEGAMILLION / NETBIZ LOTTERY PROMOTIONS,
MEGAMILLION LOTTERIES IN CONJUCTION WITH BINGO LOTTERIES

Dear Winner,

Congratulations to you as we bring to your notice, the results of the Second Category
draws of E-MAIL ONLINE LOTTERY organised by MEGAMILLION LOTTERIES WORLDWIDE. We are
happy to inform you that your email address have emerged winner of SEVEN HUNDRED AND
FIFTEEN THOUSAND EIGHT HUNDREDAND TEN EUROS(€715,810) in the 2008 online draws sponsored
by Fiat Group and Vittorio Fondazione .Participants were selected through a computer
ballot system drawn from 2,500,000 email addresses of individuals and companies from
Africa, America, Asia, Australia, Europe, Middle East, and Oceania as part of our
International Promotions Programme.
CONGRATULATIONS!
Your fund is now deposited with the paying Bank. In your best interest to avoid double
claims we request that you keep the entire details of your award strictly from public
notice until the process of transferring your claims has beencompleted, and your funds
remitted to your account.This is part of our security measures to avoid double claims.
NOTE: To file for your claim, please contact the claims instructor below on email.
***********************************************
CLAIMS DEPARTMENT
DR. MRS. MARIA ENZO
Address: VIA DELLE ORFANE 24 , 20100 MILANO ITALY.
FAX : +39 02 9544 1029
Email : mariaenzo@netbusiness.com
mariaenzo@instructor.net

**********************************************
Find below your promotion date, Reference and Batch numbers. Remember to quote these
numbers in your correspondence with your claims agent.
Ref No: MGM/NBZ/008/01/IT
Batch No: MGMNBZ/2042/001/ITL/08
Lucky No: 04-12-75-25-32-89
Serial No: 005127
PROMOTION DATE: 26th Jan. 2008.

Congratulations once again from all our staff and thank you for being part of our
promotions program.

Sincerely Yours,
Dr. ( Mrs.) Anna Patrizia Green
THE PROMOTION COORDINATOR.
NEVER SEND SPAM. IT IS BAD.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam