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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 phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "claims office" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • ",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)
• 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.
  • +447035917904 (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.
  • ford_mk18@yahoo.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: =?utf-8?q?David=20Ellis?= <davd22@yahoo.com.co>
Reply-To: ford_mk18@yahoo.com
Date: Sun, 7 Sep 2008 07:11:03 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: CONSOLATION PRIZE AWARD


¡Tengo nueva dirección de correo!Ahora puedes escribirme a:davd22@yahoo.com.co

Dear Winner,

- On the behalf of DERBYLOTTO GROUP INTERNATIONAL OF UNITED KINGDOM, I wish to announce you as one of the 10 lucky winners in the FreeLotto draw held on the 4th of September 2008.All 10 winning addresses were randomly selected from a batch of 50,000,000 international emails as part of our international promotions program which is conducted annually.We are delighted to inform you of your prize released today 7th of September 2008 2008.Your email address emerged alongside 9 others as a 2nd category winner in this year's Annual Free lotto Draw.Consequently,you have therefore been approved for a total pay out of(£1,000,000 GBP) One million Great Britain Pounds). The following particulars are attached to your lotto payment order:(i) Winning numbers: 37-13-43-85-67-11 (ii) Email ticket number: FL754/22/76 (iii) Lottery code number: FL09622UK (iv) The file Ref number: FL/04/736207152/UK Pounds).Contact us for more details Mrs To file your claim you are hereby advices to contact the underlisted claims officer below with the following info as soon as possible for the immediate release of your winnings.Contact Agent: Mark Ford TEL:+447035917904 FAX: 70-401-303-66 Email: ford_mk18@yahoo.com. Congratulations once again from all members of our staff and thanks for being part of our promotions program. david Ellis lotto *codinator*

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam