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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 fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
  • "ecowas lottery" (no such lottery exists)
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "million pounds" (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)
  • ",500,000" (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)
  • "ecowas " (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
• 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.
  • cntct_brownlawrence@hotmail.com

Fraud email example:

From: "Jones, Kathleen" <Kathleen.Jones@unco.edu>
Date: Wed, 21 May 2008 07:37:16 -0600
Subject:

FROM: THE LOTTERY COORDINATOR,
ECOWAS LOTTERY INTERNATIONAL
RESULTS FOR CATEGORY "A" DRAWS
PROMOTION DATE 20TH OF MAY 2008.
REFERENCE NUMBER: EWSLINT/08/05/957861227.
BATCH NUMBER: 67/08/101.
REPLY TO: cntct_brownlawrence@hotmail.com
=========================
Congratulations to you as we bring to your notice, the results of the first category draws of E-MAIL LOTTERY organised by ECOWAS INTERNATIONAL. We are happy to inform you that your email address have emerged a winner of £850,000.00 (Eight Hundred and Fifty Thousand Pounds), which is the winning payout for Category A winners. This is from the total prize money of £3.6 Million pounds shared among the (4) lucky winners in this category. Participants were selected through a computer ballot system drawn from 2,500,000 email addresses of individuals and companies from Africa, America, Asia, Australia, Europe, Middle East, and Oceania as part of our International Promotions Program. NOTE: To file for your claim, please contact the claims department below on email and provide him with the below details for verification.

PAYMENT VERIFICATION FORM REQUIREMENT:
1.Full Name :
2.Address :
3.Nationality :
4.Age :
5.Sex :
6.Occupation:
7.Phone/Fax:
8.Present Country:
=================
CONTACT PERSON:
MR. BROWN LAWRENCE
EMAIL: cntct_brownlawrence@hotmail.com
=====================================
NOTE: In your best interest to avoid mix up of numbers and names of any kind, we request that you keep the entire details of your award strictly from public notice until the process of transferring your claims has been completed, and your funds remitted to you. Congratulations once again from all our staff and thank you for being part of our promotions program.

Sincerely Yours,
Jones Kathleen
THE PROMOTION COORDINATOR

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam