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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:

• 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:
  • "fiduciary agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
• 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.
  • kelvin_brownstone@yahoo.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "CENTER AWARD" <awardcenter01@mailbox.hu>
Reply-To: kelvin_brownstone@yahoo.com
Date: Fri, 23 May 2008 03:10:56 -0700
Subject: VERY CONFIDENTIAL ,YOUR IS 650,000.00 POUND STARLINGS PIN 1206


Yahoo Awards Center
124 Stockport Road, Longsight
Manchester M60 2DB
United Kingdom

This is to inform you that you have won a prize money of Six Hundred and
Fifty Thousand Great Britain Pounds (GBP650,000.00) for the month of
MARCH, 2008 Prize promotion which is organized by YAHOO AWARDS &
WINDOWS LIVE.YAHOO collects all the email addresses of the people that are
active
online, among the millions that subscribed to Yahoo and Hotmail and few
from other e-mail providers. Six people are selected monthly to benefit from
this promotion and you are one of the Selected Winners.

PAYMENT OF PRIZE AND CLAIM
Winners shall be paid in accordance with his/her Settlement Centre. Yahoo
Prize Award must be claimed no later than 15 days from date of Draw
Notification. Any prize not claimed within this period will be forfeited.
Stated below are your identification numbers:

BATCH NUMBER: MFI/06/APA-43658
REFERENCE NUMBER: 2006234522
PIN: 1206

These numbers fall within the England Location file, you are requested to
contact our fiduciary agent in Manchester and send your winning

identification numbers to him;
Agent Name: Rev. Kelvin Brownstone
E-Mail: kelvin_brownstone@yahoo.com

You are advised to send the following information to your Claims Agent to
facilitate the release of of your fund to you.

1. Full name...............................
2. Country..................................
3. Contact Address.....................
4. Telephone Number.................
5. fax Number............................
5. Marital Status.........................
6. Occupation.............................
7. My Date of birth......................
7. Sex.................................
Congratulations!! once again.
Yours in service,
Dr. (Mrs.) Edith Barth
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---
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 potraying 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.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam