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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:
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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)
  • "million pounds" (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)
• 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.
  • +447024046554 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: "HelpDesk Moodle" <info@yahoo.co.uk>
Reply-To: thedesk_of_james_martins@live.com
Date: Wed, 01 Oct 2008 20:03:39 +0200
Subject: =?iso-8859-1?Q?You_Won_=A35=2C000=2C000?=

Yahoo/Msn Lottery Incoperation,
2nd Floor,Har Road Sutton,
Greater London SM1 4te,
United Kingdom.

This is to inform you that you have won a prize money of FIVE MILLION POUNDS (£5,000,000)in the Yahoo/Msn 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 Yahoo and Hotmail we only select five people as our winners through electronic balloting System without the winner applying, we congratulate you for being one of the people selected.

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.

FOR CONFIRMATION PLEASE CALL (+448706260184)(Pin-7012)

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. Next Of Kin:
8. Occupation:
9. Country:
10.Nationality:
11.Your Winning Pin Number:


CONTACT EVENTS MANAGER)

Name: Mr. James Martin
E-mail: thedeskofjamesmartins@live.com
Phone Number:+447024046554


Thank you and Accept my hearty congratulations once again!

Yours faithfully,

John K Bradford
Yahoo/Msn Lottery Games/Lottery Coordinator.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam