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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:
  • "million british pounds" (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.
  • +447005921438 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
  • +448715031922 (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.
  • west.cliff15@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
  • 3awest.cliff15@gmail.com
  • west.cliff9@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
  • 3awest.cliff9@gmail.com

Fraud email example:

From: "west cliff" <west.cliff15@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 8 Sep 2008 03:56:42 -0700
Subject: WINNING NOTIFICATION


WEST CLIFF CASINO BOARD,
401 centre, 302 REGENT STREET,
West End, LONDON, W1B 3HH
Registered in England with Company Registration number 3699618
Group VAT registration number 832 6732 26.
Ref: Number: WCC/ENG8002/08
Batch Number: WCC604990/UK
CASINO BOARD WINNING NOTIFICATION

The WEST CLIFF CASINO BOARD International promotion UNITED KINGDOM program
is proud to inform you that you have just won Two Million British Pounds
(£2.000, 000, 00).

However no previous notification is given before your email address was
picked for this lottery. Generally email address are picked, the draws are
processed by the computer through a special program that is special designed
for this lottery, the program is known as Random Access Program (RAP) This
software picks email addresses from the internet and through a random
process, picks the winners through their email address.

To file for your claim, please contact our financial agent:
MR. JERRY PAT
West Cliff Casino Board
Tel: +44-871-5031-922
Fax: +44-700-5921-438
EMAIL:west.cliff15@gmail.com <EMAIL%3Awest.cliff15@gmail.com>
EMAIL:west.cliff9@gmail.com <EMAIL%3Awest.cliff9@gmail.com>
====================================================================
APPLICATION FOR PRIZE CLAIM (Receipt Official Notification Letter)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
[FULL NAME OF WINNER]
[FULL MAILING ADDRESS]
[COUNTRY/ REGION]
[STATE/ PROVINCE]
[DATE OF BIRTH]
[SEX]
[MARITAL STATUS]
[OCCUPATION]
[CURRENT E-MAIL]
[TEL HOME]
[CELLPHONE NUMBER]
[FAX]

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 abuse of this program. Please be warned.

Congratulations!!!

Sincerely,
Mrs. Mary Herd
Promotions manager
WEST CLIFF CASINO BOARD.
UNITED KINGDOM.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam