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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:

• 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:
  • "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
  • "million 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)
  • "i have a new email address!" (this SPAM email was probably sent to thousands of people)
• 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.
  • swissaward@yahoo.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
  • international.swiss@yahoo.se (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: Swiss Award <swissaward@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: international.swiss@yahoo.se
Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2008 22:26:44 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: REF NO: SW/68/290/08 CONGRATULATION, YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS HAVE WON YOU


I have a new email address!You can now email me at: swissaward@yahoo.com



- DEAR SIR/MADAM, WE ARE PLEASED TO INFORM YOU THAT AS A RESULT OF OUR RECENT DRAWS HELD ON THE SEPTEMBER 23rd. Your e-mail address attached to ticket number 46700465896-180 with serial number 719-446 drew lucky numbers 2-00-89-58-25-00, which consequently won in the 2nd category. You have therefore been approved for a lump sum pay out of $1,000,000 (ONE MILLION DOLLARS) Note that all participants in this lottery program have been selected randomly through a computer ballot system drawn from over 20,000 companies and 30,000,000 individual email addresses from all search engines and web sites. This promotional program takes place every year, and is promoted and sponsored by eminent personalities like the Sultan of Brunei, Bill gates of Microsoft Inc and other corporate organizations. This is to encourage the use of the Internet and computers worldwide. To file for your claim, please contact MR. RICHARD WOOD. E-address: ( international.swiss@yahoo.se ) Thanks Mr. Mark Greg (LOTTERY CO-DINECTOR) POSTFACH, 4002 BASEL. HEAD OFFICE: SWITZERLAND

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam