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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
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• 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 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)
  • "from: the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "hundred thousand 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)
  • "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 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.
  • drleosteves@yahoo.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "AUSTRALIAN ONLINE LOTTERY INC" <nancyviduka3@mailbox.hu>
Reply-To: drleosteves@yahoo.com
Date: Thu, 12 Jun 2008 03:52:45 +0100
Subject: YOUR EMAIL HAVE WON!!!!


FROM: THE DESK OF THE VICE PRESIDENT INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS/PRIZE
AWARDS
DEPARTMENT AUSTRALIAN INTERNATIONAL SWEEPSTAKES LOTTERY CORPORATION

ELECTRONIC MAIL AWARD WINNING NOTIFICATION AWARD PRESENTATION CENTER:
AUSTRALIA
Date: 11/06/2008
Ref: 475061725,
Batch: 7056490902/188
Winning No: GB8701/LPRC:

RE: WINNING NOTIFICATION CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Dear Sir/Madam;

We are delighted to inform you of your prize release on the 27th May, 2008
from the Australian
International Lottery programmed. Which is fully based on electronic
selection of winners using
their e-mail addresses from some site? Your email address was attached to
ticket number; 17212,serial number 7741137002. This batch draws the lucky
numbers as follows 8382-42 bonus number 17,which consequently won the
lottery in the second category. You hereby have been approved a lumpsum pay
of US$500,000.00 (FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND UNITED STATES DOLLARS) in cash
credit file ref:ILP/HW 47509/02 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
thousand E-mail addresses from Canada, Australia, United States, Asia,
Europe, Middle East, Africa and Oceania. as part of our international
promotions 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 operational base.

Further more 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$500,000.00 (Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars Only) will be
released to you from this regional branch office in London . We hope with
part of your prize, you will participate in our end of year high stakes for
US$1.3 Billion international draw.

HOW TO CLAIM YOUR PRIZE: Simply contact our fiducially agent DIRECTOR, DR.
LEO STEVE AT (drleosteves@yahoo.com) to file for your claim.

Please quote your reference, batch and winning number which can be found on
the top left corner of this notification as well as your full name, address
and telephone number to help locate your file
easily. 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
programmed by
non-participant or unofficial personnel.

Note, all winnings MUST be claimed before the 30th June 2008; otherwise all
funds will be returned as unclaimed and eventually donated to charity
organization.

ANY BREACH OF CONFIDENTIALITY ON THE PART OF THE WINNERS WILL RESULT TO
DISQUALIFICATION.

HOW TO CLAIM YOUR PRIZE:
Simply contact your claims agent DIRECTOR, DR.LEO STEVE AT (
drleosteves@yahoo.com) by filling this form below and send it to him to file
for your claim.


FULLNAME.....
BIRTH DATE......
ADDRESS..
SEX.....
AGE...
NATIONALITY....
OCCUPATION.....
TEL....
EMAIL.....
DATE.....


Please quote your reference, batch and winning number which can be found on
the top left corner of this notification as well as your full name, address
and telephone number to help locate your file
easily.

ANYONE BELOW EIGHTEEN (18) YEARS OF AGE CAN MAKE HIS/HER CLAIM IN PROXY
THROUGH EITHER OF THE PARENTS AND DO INFORM THE AGENT IN CHARGE.

Congratulations once again on your winnings!!!

Best Regards,
Mrs. Nancy Viduka. (Coordinator)

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam