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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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• What can you do when you receive 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:

• 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)
  • "to your nominated bank account" (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)
• 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.
  • +447003180888 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
  • +447024033724 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: "BRIDGETTE PERKINS" <msl_claims@hotmail.com>
Date: Sat, 05 Jul 2008 07:55:31 GMT
Subject: RE


Msw Award Team
Baley House, Har Road
Sutton, Greater London
SM1 4te United Kingdom.
Batch: 12/25/0340
Ref:MSN-Y/101OXI/02

Dear Winner
This is to inform you that you have won a prize money of
FIVEHUNDRED THOUSAND POUNDS (?500,000.00) for the month of
july 2008 Lottery promotion which is organized by WINDOWS
LIVE.YAHOO & MICROSOFT WINDOWS,collects all the email
addresses of the people that are active online, among
the millions that subscribed to Yahoo and Hotmail we only
select five people every Month as our winners through
electronic balloting Systemwithout the winner applying,we
congratulate you for being one of the people selected.

PAYMENT OF PRIZE AND CLAIM
You are to contact your Claims Agent with immediate effect
to faciliate the protocol of your winning prized before
the date of Claim, Winners Shall be paid in accordance
with his/her Settlement Centre.

These are your identification numbers:
Batch number...................12/25/0340
Reff number.......................Ref:MSN-Y/101OXI/02
Winning number...................YM09788

To begin your claim please contact our licensed and
accredited agent assigned to you
MR. Terry Martins
(VERIFICATION DEPARTMENT MANAGER)
Email:msl_claims=40hotmail.com
TEL:+447003-180-8886
FAX:+44-702-403-3724

You are therefore advised to send the following
information to the claims agent to facilitate them and in
order for them to have access in proceeding with the
tranaferred of your funds to your nominated bank account.

1. Full name............
2. Country..............
3. Contact Address........
4. Telephone Number.......
5. Marital Status.........
6. Occupation.............
7. Company..............
8. Age....................

Congratulations once again.

Yours in service,
Mrs.Tracy Kelly.
(Operation Manager)

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam