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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:

• An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
• The following fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
  • "international lottery programme" (no such lottery exists)
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "hundred thousand united states dollars" (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)
  • "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)
  • "sani abacha" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
  • "abuja" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
• 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.
  • +2348060557471 (Nigeria, prepaid mobile phone)
• 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.
  • harrypeters111@yahoo.fr (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "australianlotto011 Gazeta.pl" <australianlotto011@gazeta.pl>
Reply-To: harrypeters111@yahoo.fr
Date: Thu, 3 Jul 2008 10:45:58 -0700
Subject: Congratulations once again on your winnings!!!


Ref: 7458222754
Batch:905534213/255
Winning No:XB3/701/LNRC.

CONGRATULATIONS!

Dear Lucky winner,

We are delighted to inform you of your prize release for this month from the
Australian International Lottery programmed. Which is fully based on an
electronic selection of winners using their / Your name was attached to
ticket number; 7458222754,905534213 serial number 6741137002This batch draws
the lucky numbers as follows 2-17-43-47-52 bonus number17, which
consequently won the lottery in the second category in this month Programme.

You hereby have been approved a lump sum pay of US$300,000.00 (Three Hundred
Thousand United States Dollars) in cash credit file Ref: ILP/MW 47509/02
from the total cash prize shared amongst eight lucky winners in this
category.

All participant were selected through a computer balloting system drawn from
our One Million E-mail addresses from Canada , Australia, United States
,Asia, Europe, Middle East, Africa,Russian and Oceania Region as part of our
international promotions program which is conducted annually.

This Lottery was promoted and sponsored by a conglomerate of some
multinational Companies as part of their social responsibility to the
citizens in the communities where they have operational base.Further more
your details(e-mail address)falls within our African representative office
in AFRICA and your prize of US$300, 000.00 will be released to you from this
regional branch office in AFRICA.

Simply contact our Agent

Name: HARRY PETERS
Address: Claims Center (NO 2 SANI ABACHACLOSE ABUJA FCTNIGERIA)
Telephone: +2348060557471
Email: harrypeters111@yahoo.fr

We hope with part of your prize, you will participate in our end of year
high stakes for US$1.3 Billion international draw. Please quote your Date of
draw,reference, batch and winning numbers which can be found on the top left
corner of this and telephone number to help locate your file easily.For
security reasons, we advice all winners to keep this information
Confidential from the public until your claim is processed and your prize
released to you.

This is part of our Security protocol to avoid double claiming and
unwarranted taking advantage of this programme by non-participant or
unofficial personnel. Note, all winnings MUST be claimed on or before 30th
of JULY 2008; otherwise all funds will be returned as Unclaimed and
eventually donated to charity.

Congratulations once again on your winnings!!!
Best Regards,
Mrs Joy Ikem

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam