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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:

• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "claims 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)
  • "cheque " (Beware of any scheme that involves cashing checks or money orders and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere - you'll be liable for the entire amount if the checks or money orders turn out to be fake, even after you have received and forwarded cash. If it's a lottery prize, remember that real lotteries do not pay large prizes by check. They wire the money directly to your bank account and you do not pay for that. Many scammers promise a large check only in order to then demand payment of courier fees for a fake courier service. )
• 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 mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
  • +447031972922 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: Lottery Notification <msl_lotto6@yahoo.com>
Date: Sat, 15 Mar 2008 08:14:48 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: NEW YEAR PROMO (YOU HAVE WON £500,000 BRITISH POUNDS STERLINGS)

















This is to inform you that you have won a prize money of FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND BRITISH POUNDS STERLINGS (£500,000.00) for the 2008 New Year Lottery promotion which was organized by YAHOO! LOTTERY INC. for the introduction of the new YAHOO! BETA MAIL, which all YAHOO! users are required to switch onto.

YAHOO! & MICROSOFT WINDOWS arrange and gather all the e-mail addresses of people who are active online, among the millions that subscribed to Yahoo!, Hotmail and other e-mail providers. Only FIVE (5) candidates are selected as winners annually through Electronic Balloting System (EBS) without the candidate applying. We congratulate you for being one of the people selected.


MODE OF PAYMENT OF PRIZE:

NOTE:- Your e-mail address that won the prize for you falls within our European representative office in United kingdom as indicated in your play coupon and your prize of £500,000.00 will be released to you from this regional branch office in London.

Yahoo! Beta Lottery Prize must be claimed not later than 14 days from date of Draw Notification after the Draw date in which Prize has won.

Note: Any prize not claimed within this period (14 days) will be forfeited.

These are your identification numbers:

Batch number................YBM-EBS-390AF
Ref number................... YBM-EBS-719AF
Winning number...........YBM-EBS-798AF

To claim your prize money, you are required to contact Dr. Smart Hooke with your Batch number, Ref. number and Winning number through his email below

AGENT NAME - Dr. Smart Hooke
E-MAIL - agent.hooke@luckymail.com
TELEPHONE NUMBER - +44-703-1972-922




As soon as our agent hears from you, he shall commence the process that will facilitate the release of your fund to you. You are therefore advise to furnish your claims agent with the below informations:

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:

Congratulations once again.

Yours in service,









We hope you're enjoying your new Yahoo! Mail account.
Now take the next step and claim your money and say thanks to Yahoo!.
You select how to transfer the prize money to you:
Cheque Delivery To Your Address Bank Account Transfer Electronic Money Transfer

WARNING!

Do not tell people about your Prize Award until your money is successfully handed over to you to avoid disqualification that may arise from double claim.

You may also receive similar e-mails from people portraying to be other Organizations or Yahoo Inc. This is solely to collect your personal information from you and lay claim over your winning. In event that you receive any e-mail similar to the notification letter that was sent to you, Kindly delete it from your mail box and give no further correspondence to such person or body.

Yahoo shall not be held responsible for any loss of fund arising from the above mentioned.



Copyright 1994-2008 The YAHOO NATIONAL LOTTERY
All rights reserved. Terms of Service - Guideline




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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam