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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
• Support our efforts to stop scams!
  
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• What can you do when you receive 419 spam
  
  
• Spam archive, Daily index
  

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:
  • "here in united kingdom" (this email uses bad English)
• 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!

Fraud email example:

From: jonh way <jonhway70@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: markrowland2008@yahoo.com
Date: Fri, 6 Jun 2008 07:15:36 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS! YOU HAVE WON US$4.3 Million!






CONGRATULATIONS!

YOU HAVE WON US$4.3 Million!
&nbsp;
Welcome To Microsoft Msn Yahoo! Lottery
&nbsp;
Hello
&nbsp;
Yahoo and Microsoft Msn! Mail gives members random cash prizes. Today,your account is randomly selected as the one of 5 top winners accounts who will get cash prizes from us.
We are happy to inform you that you have won a prize money of (US$4.3 Million ) for the month of APRIL 2008. Lottery win promotion which is organized by Yahoo and Microsoft Msn! .com every month.
&nbsp;
Five winners are selected every month through electronic balloting System without the winner applying, we are congratulating you as one of the winners for this month promo. All participant were selected through a computer balloting system drawn from Nine hundred thousand E-mail addresses from Canada , Australia , United States , Asia, Europe, Middle East , United Kingdom - London and Oceania as part of our international promotions program which is conducted annually.
&nbsp;
Furthermore, your details (e-mail address) falls within Yahoo and Microsoft Msn! Afro/Asia regional office in United Kingdom -London, as indicated in your play coupon and your prize of US$4.3 Million will be released to you from this regional office here in United Kingdom -London.

We hope with part of your prize, you will participate in our end of yearhigh stakes for US$10.3 Million international draw.

HOW TO CLAIM YOUR PRIZE
These are your identification numbers..........
Batch number.......................Lwh 09445
Lotto number........................Lwh09446
Winning number...................Lwh09447
&nbsp;
To begin your claims,our Yahoo and Microsoft Msn! Regional Office here United Kingdom - London adivce you to reply with these information needed from you.
&nbsp;
1.FULL NAME
2.COUNTRY OF ORIGIN
3.PRESENT ADDRESS
4.SEX
5.DATE OF BIRTH
6.AGE
7.OCCUPATION
8.TELEPHONE NUMBER
9.FAX NUMBER(IF ANY)
10.MARITAL STATUS
11.WINNING NUMBER,BATCH NUMBER AND LOTTO NUMBER.
12 THE MONTH YOU WON
Congratulations once more!!
&nbsp;
For security reasons, we advice all winners to keep this information confidential from the public until your claim is processed and your prize released to you. This is part of our security protocol to avoid double claiming and unwarranted taking advantage of this programme bynon-participant or unofficial personnel.

Yours Sincerely
&nbsp;
Mr. Mark Rowland
Yahoo MSN Afro/Asia Regional Office
(zonal co-ordinator

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam