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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
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• 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 phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
  • ",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!
• 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.
  • centurionvaultsservices@gmail.com
  • staatsloterijpromo@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: Nederlandse Staatsloterij <staatsloterijpromo@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 21 Apr 2008 16:35:26 +0200
Subject: Congratulations from our management.


Ref No: UT771008-07
Serial Number: 8LE02208
The Nederlandse Staatsloterij
Postbus 3334, 5902RH
Venlo-Nederland
https://www.staatsloterij.nl

Date: 21st April 2008.
Dear Sir/Madam,
We are pleased to inform you of the result of our Nederlandse Staatsloterij =
Internet Program that was conducted and release on the 18th day of April =
2008.
Your electronic mail address which we attach to the program Ref No: =
UT771008-07 and Serial Number: 8LE02208 has been selected among the lucky =
recipient
to collect an approved payment of =801,000,000:00 (One Million Euro Only) =
each, being the beneficiary of this email address. You are hereby advised to =
contact our payment processing/finance firm on the below stated details.
********************************************
Mr. Michael De Jong.
Weeps-The Netherlands.
Email: centurionvaultsservices@gmail.com
********************************************
We expect you to provide them with details of the information below for the =
processing of your winning documents.
1). Full Names:..................
2). Residential Address: ........
3). Occupation:..................
4). Sex:.........................
5). Phone/Fax Numbers:...........
6). Country of Resident:.........
7). Nationality: ................
8). Reference Number:............
9). Serial Number:...............
10). Amount Won:.................
11). Email Address:..............
12). A scan or Fax Copy of any Valid Proof of your Identification like =
International Passport or Driver's License:................
All participants where selected through a computer ballot system drawn from =
over 20,000 company and 30,000,000 individual email addresses and names from
all over the world drawn from Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Middle =
East, Africa, North and South America. Do note also that every email =
addresses that were used on this program were gotten without the knowledge of =
each recipient. Be informed here that all winnings must be claimed not later =
than the 19th Day of May 2008 and that anybody under the age of 18yrs
is not eligible to apply for a claim of this amount.
Congratulations from our management as we expect you to make good use of your =
funds. Do note also that every email addresses that were used on this program =

were gotten without the knowledge of each recipient.

Sincerely Yours,
Freida Groot
Sweepstakes Coordinator.
Nederlandse Staatsloterij.
Email: staatsloterijpromo@gmail.com
Copyright =A9 2001-2007
*********************************************

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam