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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
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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:
  • "international lottery programme" (no such lottery exists)
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
  • "million united states 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)
  • "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 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.
  • +2348060293077 (Nigeria, prepaid mobile phone)
• 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.
  • frankyr@hotmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "jefrey frank" <jefreyf@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 17 May 2008 03:11:27 +0100
Subject: ITS YOUR LUCKY DAY


Ref: 435062725
Batch: 7050470902/189
Winning no: GB8101/LPRC
REPLY TO: Email: frankyr@hotmail..com

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

Dear Sir/Madam,

We are delighted to inform you of your prize which was
released on the 25th April 2008, from the
Australian International Lottery programme,which is
fully based on an electronic selection of winners
using their e-mail addresses from some sites. Your
email address was attached to ticket number;
4700172507056490102 and serial number 7741134002. This
batch draws the lucky numbers as follows 5-13-33-37-42
and bonus number 17,which consequently won the lottery
in the second category.

You hereby have been approved a lump sum pay of
US$1,000,000.00 (ONE MILLION UNITED STATES DOLLARS) in
cash credit file ref: ILP/HW 47509/09 from the total
cash prize shared amongst eight lucky winners in this
category. All participants were selected through a
computer balloting system drawn from Nine hundred
thousands E-mail addresses from Canada,
Australia,United States, Asia, Europe, Middle East,
Africa and Oceania as part of our international
promotion program which is conducted annually. This
Lottery was promoted and sponsored by a conglomerate
of some multinational companies as part of their
social responsibility to the citizens in the
communities where they have an operational base.

Furthermore, 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$1,000,000.00 will be released to you from
this regional branch officeWe hope that
with part of your prize, you will participate in our
end of year high stakes for US$1.5 Billion
international draw. To file for your claim, please
contact our director of finance.

Name : Mr. Frank Denzel.
Email: frankyr@hotmail.com
Phone:+2348060293077

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam