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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:
  • "yahoo lottery inc" (no such lottery exists)
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "greater london" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • "hundred thousand us 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)
• 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.
  • +447045720496 (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.
  • revjohnmichael@hotmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "Yahoo Lottery Awards Inc." <revjohnmichael@hotmail.com>
Date: Thu, 03 Jul 2008 07:16:59 -1200
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS YOUR E-MAIL HAS WON A LOTTERY!!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!!
YAHOO LOTTERY INCOPERATION
BALEY HOUSE, HART ROAD,
SUTTON, GREATER LONDON SM1 4TE
UNITED KINGDOM
+447045720496
+447045721865

Calls 9am - 5pm GTM London Time


This is to inform you that you have won prize money of NINE
HUNDRED THOUSAND US DOLLARS ($900,000,00) in cash credit
file ref: ILP/MW 47509/02 from the total cash prize shared
amongst eight lucky winners in this category. For the month
of July 2008 Lottery Promotion which is organized by YAHOO
LOTTERY INC, HOTMAIL & WINDOWS LIVE for the Month of July
2008 bonanza.

YAHOO, HOTMAIL & MICROSOFT WINDOWS, collects all the email
addresses of YAHOO users and WINDOWS users, among the
millions that subscribed to Yahoo, Hot mail and all other
E-Mail services, we only select five E-Mail Addresses every
Month as our winners through electronic balloting System
without the winner applying, we congratulate you for being
one of the people whose E-Mail was selected.


Your name was attached to
Ticket number, 7458222754, S171763619,
Serial number, 6741137002
This batch draws the lucky numbers as follows
2-17-43-47-52 bonus number 17,which consequently won the
lottery in the second category.



PAYMENT OF PRIZE AND CLAIM

You are to contact your Claims Agent on or before your date
of Claim, Winners shall be paid in accordance with his/her
Settlement Center.

Yahoo Lottery Prize must be claimed no later than 20 days
from date of Draw Notification after the Draw date in which
Prize has won. Any prize not claimed within this period will
be forfeited.

These are your identification numbers keep it safely:
Batch number.....................905534213/255
Ref number.......................7458222754/07/07
Winning number...................2-17-43-47-52


These numbers fall within the agent's Location
file, you are requested to contact him and send your winning
identification numbers to him,


Rev. John Michael
E-MAIL- revjohnmichael@hotmail.com


You are therefore advice to send the following information
to the Claims Agent to facilitate them and process the
transfer of your fund.

1. Your Full Names........................
2. Country......................................
3. State ...........................................
4. Contact Address..........................
5. Telephone/Mobile Number............
6. Marital Status..............................
7. Gender .........................................
8. Occupation...................................
9. Age..............................................
10.Date of Birth ..............................
11.Religion ......................................
12.E-mail .........................................
13 Amount Won ............................

Congratulations!! Once again.
Yours in service.
Mr. Smith Anderson

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam