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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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• What can you do when you receive 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:

• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • ",500,000" (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.
  • +34691946039 (Spain, prepaid mobile phone)

Fraud email example:

From: Gsm National Lottery Online Promo Email Draw Award<winninngesverificationunit@live.com>
Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2008 19:40:04 -1200
Subject: Dear Selected winner,

GSM GLOBAL MOBILE AWARD SWEEPSTAKES.
CALLE CLAUDIO COELLO 41,28001
BARCELONA,SPAIN.
Reference: SP/CN435/663/6
Batch: Gsm/N92/05/ZY369


Congratulations!!!

On behalf of UK)/SPANISH GSM'S Staffs we hereby Congratulates you on your email success in our computer balloting has
won you the Sum of 350,000.00 Euros (Three Hundred and Fifty Thousand Euro) on the ongoing UK/SPANISH GSM PROMOTION held
on 10th September 2008. We have been sending this notice to you but this is the last as we are about distributing
winnings to winners. The draw was done electronically with several email addresses provided to this office by Microsoft
to enhance the utilization of the internet. Your email address was attached to Reference Number SP/CN435/663/6 and was
picked as one of the ten winning email addresses which made you one of our winners in the month of August.

This has qualified you to claim the total cash prize Of 350,000.00 Euros (Three Hundred and Fifty Thousand Euro).
Attached to your cash price is a N95 Series 3G Gsm/Nokia mobile phone, and your winning certificate in cash credited to
file KTU/9023118308/03. This is from a total cash prize of 3,500,000 Euros shared amongst the first ten (10) lucky
winners in this category B. Therefore you do not need to buy ticket to enter for it. Your winnings will be issued to you
as soon as you contact our Spanish division for the release of your funds from our claims department.You are advised to
contact our claims department via these details: Your winnings will be issued to you as soon as our claims department
verify your winning after you might have filled this payment processing form that is below.

Claims Processing Form. (Fill And Send To The Assigned Claims Agent)

Full Name:
Age:
Occupation:
Address:
Phone No.:
Mobile No.:
COUNTRY:
Winning Email Address:

ASSIGNED CLAIMS AGENT: Dr Michael Anderson
E-mail: winninngesverificationunit@live.com
FOR MORE INFO CALL Tel:+34-691-946-039

Note: You are advised to contact ONLY your claims agent in all matters regarding your win. Do not respond to this email
as it is only an automated notification to alert you of your winnings. Should there by any change of your email address,
please notify your claims agent immediately. Once again, congratulations from us.Quote Your Reference Number as
SP/CN435/663/6 when you are filing for your claims. Congratulations once
More from all our members of Staff.

Yours Sincerely
Mrs Violet Shanta.
(Online Promo Co-coordinator).

************DO NOT DELETE THIS MESSAGE***********

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam