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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.

Click here to report a problem with this page.

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

• The following fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
  • "the bmw automobile company" (no such lottery exists)
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "hundred thousand great british pounds" (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.
  • +447035908709 (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.
  • mrgodsonmanna@yahoo.com

Fraud email example:

From: "AMELIN SHARON" <amelinsharon1@peru.com>
Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 14:16:17 +0200
Subject: CONGRATULATION YOU HAVE WON


CONGRATULATION YOU HAVE WON!!!
THE INTERNATIONAL AWARENESS
PROMOTION DEPARTMENT OF
THE BMW AUTOMOBILE COMPANY.
68 Galden Shoes, Stamford, Lincs, PE9 2YP, London
United Kingdom.

Reference Number: BMW/9420X2/68
The Board of Directors, members of staff and the International Awareness
Promotion Department of the BMW Automobile Company, wishes to congratulate
you on your success as the STAR PRIZE WINNER in this years' BMW Automobile
International Awareness Promotion (IAP) held on Thursday 20th of December,
2007, in London, England.

This makes you the proud owner of a brand new BMW 5 Series, M Sport Saloon
car and a cash prize of (£1.500.000.00 GBP) ONE MILLION FIVE HUNDRED
THOUSAND GREAT BRITISH POUNDS.The car comes with a special BMW Insurance
Cover for one whole year, that is, till the next promotion in 2009. It also
comes with a one year warranty and FREE repairs at any BMW AUTOMOBILE depot
or service station worldwide.DESCRIPTION OF PRIZE VEHICLE.YEAR: 2007,

MODEL: 55i M Sport Saloon The selection process was carried out through
random selection in our Computerized Email Selection System (C.E.S.S.) from
a database of over a million email addresses from the world wide web. Each
email address was attached to a ticket number and your email address with
ticket number: 5647600545188 and serial number: BMWP/5368/02 was randomly
selected as the star prize winner amongst other consolation prize winners.

For you to collect your prizes, kindly fill the verification form below and
send it to the AGENT unit, Mr Godson Manna, through email, stating your
receipt of this notification. He has been mandated to offer you assistance
and facilitate the urgent delivery of your prizes.

Dispatch Officer:
Dr; Godson Manna:
BMW AGENT
EMAIL:(mrgodsonmanna@yahoo.com)
+447035908709
+447031889831


VERIFICATION FORM:
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.) EMAIL ADDRESS:
12.) TICKET NUMBER:
13.) SERIAL NUMBER:

Congratulations once more, and keep trusting BMW Automobile for top quality
automobiles.
Mr. HENRY JOSEPH
DIRECTOR OF PROMOTIONS,
INTERNATIONAL AWARENESS PROMOTIONS,
BMW AUTOMOBILE.
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM
CONGRATULATION YOU HAVE WON

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam