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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:

• 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.
  • +447031941952 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: "Sandra Thompson" <sandrathompson@bigmir.net>
Date: Thu, 26 Jun 2008 10:08:36 -0700
Subject: HELLO


**********************INTERLOTTO INCORPORATED - WINNING
NOTIFICATION********************

Attention winner,

This is to inform you that your email address successfully emerged winner in
our yearly electronic lottery program which was drawn on 20th June 2008.Your
prize is still unclaimed at the moment. Email addresses were used for the
draws. No tickets were sold.

Details of your winning are:

Winning amount:850,000.00 GBP (Great British Pounds Sterling)
Ticket no: 27507036088-048
Serial no: 897-6013
Batch no: 22-040-S2
Pass code: 608
Reference no: IMAS-0337

Kindly contact InterLotto claims official to process your winnings. The
details of the official is found below:

Contact Name: Mr. John Green - Claims Department.
Contact email: icdept1@live.com<http://mc284.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=icdept1@live.com>
Contact phone: +447031941952

For security reasons, you are advised to keep your winning information
confidential till your claims is processed and your money remitted to you.
This is part of our precautionary measure to avoid double claiming and
unwarranted abuse of this program by some dubious individuals. Please be
warned.

Congratulations!!!



*Ms. Sandra Thompson
Notification Department,
InterLotto Incorporation,
#1 Plough Place,
EC4A 1DE **London,
United Kingdom.*

****************************************************************************************

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam