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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
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• 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:

• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "million 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)
  • "hundred thousand u.s 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)
  • ",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)
• 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: Mr William Standford <au_standford@yahoo.com.au>
Reply-To: office_aulottery@switched.com
Date: Wed, 5 Mar 2008 08:11:18 +1100 (EST)
Subject: WINNING NOTICE


AUSTRALIA LOTTO LOTTERY INC.
5th Floor East Commonwealth Centre
55 Currie Street Adelaide SA 5000,
South Australia.

WINNING NOTIFICATION
We are delighted to inform you of the result of the E-mail address
ballot lottery draw of the Australian cash-out lotto bv international
program,which took place on the 29th of february 2008. This is a computer
generated lottery of Internet users using email addresses for draws.
This lotto draw is fully based on an electronic selection of winners
using their e-mail addresses from different World Wide
Web(www)sites.Your e-mail address attached to ticket number: 47061725
07056490902 drew the lucky numbers and bonus ball number which
subsequently won you the lottery in the 2nd category.You have therefore
been approved to claim a total sum of US$250,000.00 (TWO HUNDRED
THOUSAND U.S DOLLARS) in cash credit file ref:ILP/HW 47509/02.
This is from the total cash prize of US$4,000,000 Million Dollars,shared
amongst the first Ten (10) lucky winners in this category.All
participant were selected randomly through a computer balloting system
drawn from Nine hundred thousand E-mail addresses from Canada,
Australia, United States, Asia, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Oceania
as part of our international promotions program which is conducted
annually.This Lottery is being promoted and sponsored by a conglomerate
of Multinational companies as part of their social responsibility to the
citizens in the communities where they have operational base.

Further more your details(e-mail address) falls within our European
representative office in Amsterdam,Holland, as indicated in your play
coupon and your prize of US$250,000.00 will be released to you from our
regional branch office in Nigeria.We hope with part of your prize, you
will participate in our end of year high stakes for US$1.3 Billion
international draw.Our agent will immediately commence the process to
facilitate the release of your funds as soon as you contact him.

PLEASE MAKE SURE THAT YOU QUOTE YOUR BELOW WINNING PARTICULARS WHEN
CONTACTING YOUR AGENT:
Ref: 4758961725
Batch: ALLINC 70564943902/188
Winning no: FGNGB2701/LPRC

HOW TO CLAIM YOUR PRIZE:
Simply contact your claims agent, Rev. Dave Idara
email: (office_aulottery@switched.com)
Fill this form below and send it to him to file for
your claim .

LOTTERY WINNERS APPLICATION FORM OF PAYMENT.
FULL NAME.................................................
DATE OF BIRTH..................................
SEX..................................
AGE..................................
MARITAL STATUS...................................
NATIONALITY.........................................
OCCUPATION...........................................
TELEPHONE..........................................
FAX......................................................
EMAIL................
DATE......................................................
WINNER REF/BATCH NO........................APPROVED
FOR PAYMENT.

Please quote your reference,batch and winning number which can be found
on the top left corner of this notification as well as your full name,
address and telephone number to help locate your file easily.
For security reasons, we advice all winners to keep this information
confidential(VERY SECRET) from the public until your claim is processed
and your prize money remitted/released to you.This is part of our
precautionary measure to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of
this program by some unscrupulous elements,equally to guard against non
participant or unofficial personnel taking undue advantage of this
program. Note that, all winnings MUST be claimed by a STIPULATED TIME(ON
OR BEFORE 20th March 2008); otherwise all funds will be returned as
Unclaimed and eventually be reabsorbed into our next lucky dip
sweepstakes.

Congratulations once again on your winnings!!!

Yours in service
Sincerely,
Mr. Williams Standford
Online coordinator for
AUSTRALIAN LOTTO INC

---------------------------------
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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam