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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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• Spam archive, Daily index
  

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:
  • "affidavit of claim" (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. Never ever send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally. )
  • "claim agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "million 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)
  • ",000,000" (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)
  • "affidavit " (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
  • "barr." (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
  • "high court" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
  • "cheque " (Beware of any scheme that involves cashing checks or money orders and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere - you'll be liable for the entire amount if the checks or money orders turn out to be fake, even after you have received and forwarded cash. If it's a lottery prize, remember that real lotteries do not pay large prizes by check. They wire the money directly to your bank account and you do not pay for that. Many scammers promise a large check only in order to then demand payment of courier fees for a fake courier service. )
• 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.
  • barrwalter_douglas@myway.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "Yahoo and Microsoft Windows Lottery Promo" <yahooandmicrosoftwindows@gmail.com>
Reply-To: barrwalter_douglas@myway.com
Date: Sat, 23 Aug 2008 08:00:50 -0700
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS !!! YOU HAVE WON TWO MILLION US DOLLARS FROM NEW YAHOO BETA PROMO


*[image: YAHOO! MAIL]* ** *[image: My
Yahoo!]<http://us.ard.yahoo.com/CMP=229/ELEM=15106477/UID=712/U=112002491/L=lid:15005416/E=5YL7W5wjwCWp5dFuSTQO/D=mail/M=287466.7609950.8481748.7383539/A=3160424/S=24244634/SIG=140ljkr5t/*http%3A//e.my.yahoo.com/config/set_cstheme?.page=p2&.partner=&.intl=us&.done=http%3a%2f%2fmy.yahoo.com%2findex.html&.src=my&v9>
AWARD*
** **


**
** <http://yahoo-email.com/a/hBFb7bQAo0kxwAo4Da4A1$QTe.AhAvS-yt/ynu5>
* This is to inform you that you have won a prize money of TWO MILLION US
DOLLARS ($2,000,000.00) for the YEAR 2008 Lottery promotion which is
organized by YAHOO LOTTERY INC for the introduction of the new YAHOO BETA
MAIL which all YAHOO users are required to switch onto.
YAHOO! & MICROSOFT WINDOWS, arrange and gather all the e-mail addresses
of the people that are active online, among the millions that subscribed to
All email Address, and others we only select Nine(9) candidates per annually
as our winners through Electronic Balloting System (EBS) without the
candidate applying, we congratulate you for being one of the people
selected.

PAYMENT OF PRIZE AND CLAIM
We are sorry that your Payment Approval File was sent to Africa
(Republic of Ghana) due to we have 3 lucky winners in Africa so that you can
be cleared and paid simultaneously there. You are to contact our Location
Claim Agent on or before your date of Claim.

Yahoo Beta Lottery Prize must be claimed not later than 14 days from date of
Draw Notification after the Draw date in which Prize has won.

Note: Any prize not claimed within this period (14 days) will be forfeited.

These are your identification numbers:

Batch number.....................YBM-EBS-360AF
Reff number........................YBM-EBS-710AF
Winning number...............YBM-EBS-718AF*
* These numbers above fall within the agent's Location file, you are
requested to contact your Agent and send your Identification Numbers and
Personal Information to him;

BARR. WALTER DOUGLAS at his email:

E-mail: barrwalter_douglas@myway.com<http://uk.f250.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=barrwalter_douglas@myway.com>
*
*

You are therefore advised to send the following information to him to
facilitate them and process the transfer of your fund with the appointed
paying bank.

Send your Identification Numbers/Your Personal Information to him
immediately:

Personal Information
1. Full name..................
2. Country....................
3. Contact Address...........
4. Telephone Number.........
5. Marital Status..............
6. Occupation..................
7. Age.........................
8. Sex.........................
Date.........................
Congratulations once again.
Yours in service,*
** **
** *[image: Yahoo! UK & Ireland]*
** *<http://mail.yahoo.com/config/login?/_javascript:ol%28%27http://mail.yahoo.com/config/login?/__javascript:olhttp://www.freelotto.com/offer.asp?offer%253d43761%2526amp;FID%253dfa7d27913658;%27%29;>
*
**
We hope you're enjoying your new Yahoo! Mail account.
Now take the next step and claim your money and say thanks to Yahoo!.
You select how to transfer the prize money to you:
Cheque Delivery To Your Address Bank Account Transfer By Cash (Winners
will be require to come down here by theirselves to remitt their winning
fund.) NOTE: NOBODY WILL TOUCH YOUR MONEY FOR ANY REASON AND AN AFFIDAVIT OF
CLAIM WILL BE PRESENTED TO THE BANK BY THE HIGH COURT OF GHANA, BEFORE THE
BANK CAN RELEASE YOUR MONEY.
** See what's happening on Yahoo.com today. *Do you Yahoo!?
*<http://yahoo-email.com/a/hBFb7bQAo0kxwAo4Da4A1$QTe.AhAvS-yt/ybang>
*[image: Add Some Flair - It's
Easy]*<http://us.ard.yahoo.com/CMP=229/ELEM=15106477/UID=714/U=112002491/L=lid:15005416/E=5YL7W5wjwCWp5dFuSTQO/D=mail/M=287466.7609950.8481748.7383539/A=3160424/S=24244634/SIG=140rcf7ig/*http%3A//e.my.yahoo.com/config/set_cstheme?.page=p2&.partner=&.intl=us&.done=http%3a%2f%2fmy.yahoo.com%2findex.html&.src=my&v1>
*If you have questions or wish to claim your prize money kindly
contact this **email,*
*barrwalter_douglas@myway.com<http://uk.f250.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=barrwalter_douglas@myway.com>
see
the instructions at the body of this message.*

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam