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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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• 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:

• 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")
  • "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.
  • +447031921839 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
  • +447045737711 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
• 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.
  • steveforthuk1@hotmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
  • steveforth1@yahoo.ie (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "Christophe Ginestier" <cginesti@med.umich.edu>
Date: Fri, 13 Jun 2008 12:56:28 -0400
Subject: WINNING FINAL NOTIFICATION

FREE LOTTERY PROMOTION INTERNATIONAL
PROMOTIONS/PRIZE AWARD DEPT
74 CRANBOUNE ROAD,
CAMBERWELL, LONDON, WE87GHW
UNITED KINGDOM
Dear Winner,

WINNING FINAL NOTIFICATION

We are officially informing you of the result of the Lottery Winners International programs held on the 25th MAY 2008 as part of our promotional programmes for the year 2008. Your e-mail address attached to ticket number 77007742781005-18721 with reference number 414-3721060 drew winning numbers 7-00-71-00-66-49 and credited to batch number 121cfc, which consequently won in the 1st category via our electronic ticket as stated above. You have therefore been approved for a pay out of 1,800,000.00 (One Million Eight Hundred Thousand Pounds).
To file for your claim, you will be contacting our accounts department authorized to verify and process your claims for your total payment (You will receive more information upon your acknowledgment of this email).
Sincerely yours,
To file for your claim, contact our fiduciary agent via the details
below.
Mr. Steve Forth
EMAIL: steveforthuk1@hotmail.com
CC: steveforth1@yahoo.ie
TEL: +44 70457 37711
+447031921839


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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam