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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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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.

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Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "claims office" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • ",000,000" (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)
• 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.
  • +447031906056 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: Steven Howard <howard_79@msn.com>
Reply-To: <infor_elotterywins2008@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 21:18:18 +0000
Subject: Lucky Winner



THE E-LOTTERY COMPANYUK OFFICEUnited Kingdom Office,7 West End Avenue, Gatley,Cheadle, Cheshire, SK8 4DR, UK.Draw Date: 20-06-2008WINNING NOTIFICATION:Dear Winner,We happily announce to you the Draw (06/1099) of theE-Lottery online email promotion program held on 20thJune, 2008. All 10 winning e-mail addresses wererandomly selected from a batch of 50,000,000 internationalemails.Your emails address emerged alongside 9 others as acategory 2 winner in this Year's Annual E-Lottery Draw.Consequently, you have therefore been approved for a totalpay out of £546,480.00 (Five Hundred And Forty-SixThousand, Four Hundred & Eighty British Pounds Sterlingonly). The following particulars are attached to your lottopayment order:(i) Winning Numbers: 05–18–26—34–42–49–BB 08(ii) Email ticket number; FL754/22/76(iii) Lotto Code Number: FL09622UK(iv) Ref Number: EL/07/736207147/UKPlease contact your claims officer as soon as possible forthe immediaterelease of your winnings:NAME: Steven HowardTEL: +(44) 703-190-6056 EMAIL: infor_elotterywins2008@yahoo.co.ukRegards,Julia Simson (Mrs.).Promotion Manager,UK & Europe.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam