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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.
• The following fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
  • "yahoo lottery inc" (no such lottery exists)
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "claim agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "hundred thousand us 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 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.
  • ian.horgan@hotmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
  • attorneyhorgan@uku.co.uk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: Yahoo Hotmail <yahoohotmail@yahoohotmail.hyperoffice.com>
Reply-To: attorneyhorgan@uku.co.uk
Date: Tue, 12 Feb 2008 00:07:57 +0000 (GMT Standard Time)
Subject: CLAIM YOUR PRIZE $500,000.00. CONTACT US.

CONGRATULATIONS! YAHOO & MSN MAIL LOTTERY 701 First Avenue, London,United Kingdom. ==================================================================

		Dear Winner!, This is to inform you that you have won a prize money of FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND US DOLLARS ($500,000.00) in a Lottery promotion organized by YAHOO LOTTERY INC & MSN for the introduction of the All New Yahoo Mail Beta GET LIVE MSN which all YAHOO & MSN Users and other mail account users are required to switch onto. YAHOO &MSN arranged and gathered all the e-mail addresses of the people that are active online, among the millions that subscribed to Yahoo and Hotmail, and others. We only selected five (5) subscribers as our winners through Electronic Balloting System (E.B.S) without the person applying. We congratulate you for being one of the people selected. PAYMENT OF PRIZE AND CLAIM Your Payment Approval File was sent to Africa due to we have 3 lucky winners in Africa so that you can be cleared and paid simultaneously there with them. You are to contact our Claim Agent on or before your date of Claim. REV.IAN HORGAN E-MAIL: ian.horgan@hotmail.com, attorneyhorgan@uku.co.uk Your Yahoo Prize must be claimed not later than 14 days from date of Draw Notification after the Draw date in which Prize has won. WARNING!!! ALL CLAIM MUST BE DONE BEFORE OR ON FEBUARY 20TH, 2008.HAPPY NEW YEAR Note: Any prize not claim within this period (14 days) will be forfeited. These are your identification numbers: Batch number...............YBM-EBS-390AF Reff number..................YBM-EBS-719AF Winning number..........YBM-EBS-798AF These numbers above fall within the African Affiliated Bank Contact agent to file out your documents, you are requested to contact her and send your Identification Numbersand Personal Information to him: REV.IAN HORGAN E-MAIL: ian.horgan@hotmail.com, attorneyhorgan@uku.co.uk You are therefore advised to send the following information to him to facilitate them and process the transfer of your fund without wasting time. Send your Identification Numbers/Your Personal Information to him immediately. Personal Information 1. Full name.................. 2. Country....................... 3. Contact Address........... 4. Telephone Number....... 5. Marital Status.............. 6. Occupation.................. 7. Age......................... 8. Sex......................... Make sure you follow the instruction carefully. Sincerely, John Kremer Vice President, Yahoo!Mail Copyright © 1994-2008 Yahoo Inc All rights reserved.Terms of Service - Copyright/ Policy-Guidelines.NOTICE: We collect personal information on this site.To learn more about how we use your information

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam