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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
• Support our efforts to stop scams!
  
• How to report 419 spam to us
• What can you do when you receive 419 spam
  
  
• Spam archive, Daily index
  

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:
  • "courier company" (Courier companies mentioned in 419 scams are always fake. They will have you send money to them, but won't deliver anything. )
  • "(ecowas)" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
• 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: "Web Cash Lottery" <worldwideintcourier@live.com>
Date: Sat, 27 Sep 2008 23:43:55 GMT
Subject: Congratulations!!! You have Won


Dear Winner,

This is to inform you that you have been selected for a cash prize of =
1,334,534 (One Million three Hundred andthirty four thousand,five
hundred and thirty four Pounds Sterlings.)held on the 27th September 2008 =
in Web cashlottery,West Africa in conjuction with the United Kingdom.The
selection process was carried out through random selection in our =
computerized email selectionsystem(ess) from a database of over 250,000
emailaddresses drawn from which you were selected.The Web cash lottery is =
approved by the British Gamming Board and West Africa (Ecowas). To begin the
processing of your prize you are to contact our courier company for speed =
delivery process more infomationas contact our courier company

=20
=20
Email: worldwideint.courier=40live.com
Name : Micheal J .Armsted

=20

Contact her by sending her with the underlisted =
informations:1.Name.2.Address.3.Nationality.4.Age.5.Occupation.6.Sex.7.Mari=
taSta
tus.8.Phone/Fax.Sincerely,Mr Anderson cole(Zonal Coordinator)


Congratulations=21=21=21 from Web Cash Lottery

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam