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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 phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "fiduciary agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
• 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: DR BARRY KNIGHT <zm924txvyz@testzimbra.com>
Reply-To: DR BARRY KNIGHT <drralphwinter_staff@live.com>
Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2008 20:57:42 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS!YOU WON $820,000.00!




You won $820,000.00! Yahoo/windows live congratulates you! Messenger YAHOO/windows live  INTERNET LOTTERY



CONGRATULATIONS!YOU WON $820,000.00! 



Yahoo! Mail gives members random cash prizes. Today, your account is randomly selected as the one of 12 top winners accounts who will get cash prizes from us. We are happy to inform you that you have won a prize money of (Eight Hundred And twenty Thousand US Dollars) ($820,000.00) for the  month of May Lottery win promotion which is organized by yahoo.messenger and window live.com every month.
                      
YAHOO and WINDOW LIVE! collects all the mail id of the people that are online, among the millions that subscribe to the world email we only select five people every month as our winners through electronic balloting System without the winner applying,we are  congratulating you for been one of the people selected.All participant were selected through a computer balloting system drawn from Nine hundred thousand E-mail addresses from Canada, Australia, United States, Asia, Europe, Middle East,Africa and Oceania as part of our international promotions program which is conducted annually.
 
This Lottery was promoted and sponsored by a conglomorate of some multinational companies as part of their social responsibility to the citizens in the commmunities where they have operational base. Further more your details(e-mail address) falls within our Spanish representative office in GHANA, as indicated in your play coupon and your prize of $820,000.00 USD will be released to you from this regional branch office in GHANA,
 
HOW TO CLAIM YOUR PRIZE
 
These are your identification numbers.........
Batch number....................Lwh 09445
Lotto number.....................Lwh09446
Winning number................Lwh09447
Serial number....................Lwh009482
 
To begin your claims, kindly contact the Fiduciary Agent Dr. Ralph Winter of YAHOO/WINDOWS LIVE LOTTERY BOARD GHANA on email address: ( drralphwinter_staff@live.com )  You are required to forward Them with the following details:
 
1.FULL NAME
2.COUNTRY OF ORIGIN
3.PRESENT ADDRESS
4.SEX
5.DATE OF BIRTH
6.AGE
7.OCCUPATION
8.TELEPHONE NUMBERS/CELL
9.FAX NUMBER(IF ANY)
10.MARITAL STATUS
11.WINNING NUMBER, BATCH NUMBER AND LOTTO NUMBER.
12 THE MONTH YOU WON.................
13 AMOUNT WON.....................
 
As soon as you contact your agent, he will advise you on what to do in order to get your prize money. Congratulations once more!!
 
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 taking advantage of this programme by non-participant or unofficial personnel.
 
Yours Sincerely,
 
Dr. BARRY KNIGHT  (PHD) 
LOTTO CO-ORDINATOR.
The Yahoo.com staff
+233-24-8757617
http://www.yahoo.com

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam