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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:
  • "microsoft corp world lottery" (no such lottery exists)
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "fiduciary agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "claim agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "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)
  • "u.k " (this email uses bad English)
• 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 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.
  • mrfredbrian@yahoo.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "Microsoft Notification INC" <winnersdeck@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 5 Jul 2008 12:24:29 +0100
Subject: =?ISO-8859-1?Q?YOUR_MAIL_HAS_WON_=A3400,000_UK_POUNDS_(CONTACT_AGENT)?=


The Microsoft Corp World Lottery, United Kingdom
P O Box 1010 Liverpool, L70 1NL

Winning Numbers 887 13 865 37 10 83


WINNING NOTIFICATION:

We happily announce to you the draw (#953) of the MICROSOFT CORP WORLD
LOTTERY AWARD International programs held in U.K your "email address" was
attached to ticket number; B9665 75604546 199 serial number 97560, This
batch draws the lucky winning numbers as follows 887/13/865/37/10/83, bonus
number 2, which consequently won the lottery in the second category.

All participants "email address" were selected through a computer balloting
system drawn from Nine hundred thousand names from Canada, Australia, United
States, Asia, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Oceanic as part of our
international promotions program which is conducted annually.

You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of £400,000.00 (Four
Hundred Thousand United Kingdom Pounds) in cash credited to file
MSW-L/200-26937.

HOW TO CLAIM YOUR PRIZE Simply contact our fiduciary Claim Agent, He will
immediately commence the process to facilitate the release of your winning
prize money. His contact details is shown below

NAME: MR. FRED BRIAN
Email: mrfredbrian@yahoo.com

Our special thanks and gratitude to BILL GATES and his associates. We wish
you the best of luck as you spend your good fortune in this season. For
security reasons, you are advised to keep your winning information
confidential untill your cash prize is processed and your winning money
remitted to your nominated account

NB: PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS EMAIL BECAUSE YOU MIGHT NOT BE ATTENDED TO,
KINDLY CONTACT YOUR FIDUCIARY AGENT DIRECTLY FOR FURTHER DIRECTIONS.

Best Regards.
Ms. Linna Martins
(Information Minister)

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam