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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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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 fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
  • "yahoo/msn lottery inc" (no such lottery exists)
  • "yahoo/msn lottery" (no such lottery exists)
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "greater london" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • "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!

Fraud email example:

From: "Mr.Larry Smith" <johnbrodericko.eventsmanager11@live.com>
Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2008 10:28:16 +0200
Subject: Winning number...................YM09788



Yahoo/Msn LotteryIncorporation
Baley House, Har Road
Sutton, Greater London SM1 4te
United Kingdom.

This is to inform you that you have won a prize
money of Five hundred thousand, Great Britain
Pound Sterlings(£500,000.00) for this month
2008 Lottery promotion which is organized by
YAHOO/MSN LOTTERY INC & WINDOWS LIVE.
YAHOO/MSN & MICROSOFT WINDOWS,
collects all the email addresses of the people
that are active online, among the millions that
subscribed to the internet,we only select five
people every Month as our winners through
electronic balloting System without the winner
applying,we congratulate you for being one of
the people selected.

You are to contact the events manager on
or before your date of Claim, Winners Shall be
paid in accordance with his/her Settlement
Centre.

Yahoo/Msn Lottery Prize must be claimed no
later than 20 days from date of Draw Notification
after the Draw date in which Prize has won. Any
prize not claimed within this period will be
forfeited.

These are your identification numbers:

Batch number....................YM 09102XN
Reff number.......................YM35447XN
Winning number...................YM09788

These numbers fall within your Location file,
you are requested to contact the events
manager, send your winning identification
numbers to him,to enable him verify your
claims.How ever you will have to fill and submit
this form to the events manager for verification
& direction on how you can claim your winning
fund.

1. Full name..............
2. Contact Address........
3. Age...................
4. Telephone Number.......
5. Marital Status.........
6. Sex....................
7. Zip Code..............
8. Occupation.............
9. Company...............
10.State:.................
11.Country...............
12.Nationality............
13. Your Reference and Batch number at the
top of this mail:

(CONTACT EVENTS MANAGER)
Name: Mr.John Brodericko
E-mail:johnbrodericko.eventsmanager11@live.com

Thank you and Accept my hearty congratulations once again!

Yours faithfully,
Mr.Larry Smith
(Yahoo/Msn Lottery Games/Lottery Coordinator).

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam