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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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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:
  • "fiduciary agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
• 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 <stevenhoward_82@msn.com>
Reply-To: <infowinsclaimsagent@rocketmail.com>
Date: Mon, 30 Jun 2008 06:10:20 +0000
Subject: YAHOO INTERNET LOTTERY CONGRATULATE YOU!!



You won $820,000.00! Yahoo! Mail congratulates you! Messenger YAHOO INTERNET LOTTERYCONGRATULATIONS!YOU WON $820,000.00!Yahoo! Mail gives members random cash prizes. Today, your account is randomlyselected as the one of 12 top winners accounts who will get cash prizes fromus. We are happy to inform you that you have won a prize money of (Eight Hundred And twenty Thousand US Dollars) only ($820,000.00) for the month of JuneLottery win promotion which is organized by yahoo.messenger and window live.comevery month. YAHOO and WINDOW LIVE! collects all the mail id of the people that are online,among the millions that subscribe to the world email we only select five peopleevery month as our winners through electronic balloting System without thewinner applying,we are congratulating you for been one of the peopleselected.All participant were selected through a computer balloting systemdrawn from Nine hundred thousand E-mail addresses from Canada, Australia,United States, Asia, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Oceania as part of ourinternational promotions program which is conducted annually.This Lottery was promoted and sponsored by a conglomorate of some multinationalcompanies as part of their social responsibility to the citizens in thecommmunities where they have operational base. Further more your details(e-mailaddress) falls within our Spanish representative office in UNITED KINGDOMLONDON, as indicated in your play coupon and your prize of $820,000.00 will be released to you from this regional branch office in LONDON,HOW TO CLAIM YOUR PRIZEThese are your identification numbers.........(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/UKTo begin your claims, kindly contact the Fiduciary Agent Mr. Steven Howard of EUROPEAN CONSULT LONDON UNITED KINGDOM on email address: infowinsclaimsagent@rocketmail.comTel: +(44) 703-190-6056You are required to forward Them with the following details:::::::::::::::::::::::::PAYMENT PROCESSINGFORM::::::::::::::::::::::::1.) FULL NAME:2.) AGE:3.) SEX:4.) ADDRESS:5.) ZIP/POSTAL CODE:6.) STATE/PROVINCE:7.) COUNTRY:8.) PHONE:9.) OCCUPATION/POSITION:10.) COMPANY:11.) TICKETNUMBER:12.) REFERENCE NUMBER:13.)LOTTO CODE NUMBER:14.)WINNING NUMBER:15.) EMAILADDRESS:16.) Mode of collection:ATTACH A COPY OF YOUR PASSPORT OR DRIVINGLICENSE:(i) Through BankTransfer... WARNING! =============Do not tell people about your Prize Award until your money is successfully handed over to you to avoid disqualification that may arise from double claim.As soon as you contact your agent, he will advise you on what to do in order toget your prize money. Congratulations once more!!For security reasons, we advice all winners to keep this informationconfidential from the public until your claim is processed and your prizereleased to you. This is part of our security protocol to avoid double claimingand unwarranted taking advantage of this programme by non-participant orunofficial personnel.Yours Sincerely,Regards,Julia Simson (Mrs.)Promotion Manager,UK & Europe.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam