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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
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• 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:
  • "australian lottery" (can only win this lottery if you bought a ticket)
  • "international lottery programme" (no such lottery exists)
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
  • "from the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "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)
• 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.
  • +2348033994897 (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.
  • paymentdivision0112@yahoo.com.au (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "AUSTRALIAN LOTTERY DEPARTMENT" <claim_agent1@ymail.com>
Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2008 15:54:53 -1200
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS,YOU HAVE WON $500,000.00USD

FROM THE DESK OF THE VICE PRESIDENT INTERNATIONAL
PROMOTIONS/PRIZE AWARDS DEPARTMENT AUSTRALIAN
INTERNATIONAL SWEEPSTAKES LOTTERY CORPORATION;

DATE: 28/07/2008
REF NUMBER:475061725
BATCH NUMBER:7056490902/188
WINNING NUMBER:GB8701/L PRC
WINNER #5


CONGRATULATIONS,YOU HAVE WON $500,000.00USD

Dear Sir/Madam,

We are delighted to inform you of your prize release on the
27th July
2008 from the AUSTRALIA INTERNATIONAL LOTTERY
PROGRAMME,Which is fully
based on an electronic selection of winners using their
e-mail
addresses,Your name was attached to ticket number;
470617250705649 0902 serial
number 7741137002.

This batch draws the lucky numbers as follows 5-13-33-37-42
bonus
number 17, which consequently won the lottery in the first
category. You
have been approved a lump sum of Five Hundred Thousand
United States
Dollars($500,000.00USD) in cash credit file ref: ILP/HW
47509/02 from the
total cash prize shared amongst eight lucky winners in first
category.

All participant were selected through computer balloting
system drawn
form Nine hundred thousand E-mail addresses from
Canada,Australia,United
States, Asia, Europe, Middle East,Africa and Oceania as part
of our
international promotions program which is conducted
annually.This Lottery
was promoted and sponsored by a conglomerate of some
international
companies as part of their social
responsibility to the citizens in the communities where they
have
operational base.

Furthermore your detail (e-mail address) falls within our
NIGERIA
representative office in AFRICA as indicated in your play
coupon and your
prize of Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars
($500,000.00USD)will
be released to you from this regional branch office in
NIGERIA.We hope
with part of your prize,you will participate in our end of
year high
stakes for US$2.6 Billion international draw.

HOW TO CLAIM YOUR PRIZE:
Simply contact our fiducial Agent,
DR. MATHEW RALPHEL
Email address; paymentdivision0112@yahoo.com.au
Phone Number: +234-8033994897

To file for your claim.Please quote your reference, batch
and winning
number which can be found on the top left corner of this
notification as
well as your full Name,Address and Telephone Number to help
locate
your winning 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 lottery
programme by
non-participant or non official personnel.

NOTE,all winnings must be claimed before 30th of July 2008,
otherwise
all funds will be returned as Unclaimed and eventually
donated to
charity organization.

Congratulations once again on your winnings!!!

Best Regards
REV FR.DUCK MAYOR.
(coordinator).

PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS EMAIL,
CONTACT YOUR CLAIMS AGENT;
DR.MATHEW RALPHE
Email address; paymentdivision0112@yahoo.com.au
Phone Number: +234-8033994897

YOU MUST CONTACT YOUR CLAIMS AGENT WITH THE E-MAIL
ADDRESSES THAT HAVE BEEN INDICATED FOR CLARIFICATIONS.

Australian Lottery International coordinator (Announcer).

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam