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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:

• 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:
  • "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.
  • mh4497150@yahoo.com.hk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: (sent from abused email account)
Reply-To: mh4497150@yahoo.com.hk
Date: Mon, 20 Oct 2008 14:08:40 +0530 (IST)
Subject: Your email has won you $4,600,000.00


I have a new email address!You can now email me at: ukwins_20084132@yahoo.in



- UK LOTTERY ORGANIZATION. TICKET FREE/ONLINE E-MAIL ADDRESS WINNINGS DEPARTMENT. Are you the owner of this email address or do you have authorized access to it in the absence of the owner? If yes then have every reason to rejoice as the result of the UK lottery, free ticket and online e-mail address draws has just been released and guess what? Your email address won you the sweepstakes in the first category and you are entitled to claim the sum of Four Million, Six Hundred Thousand USA Dollars. You are to contact our representative on the below email address for available options on how to receive your winnings fund. Note that Mr. Melvin Harrison might fail to recognize you as the true winner and receiver of the US$4,600,000 if you fail to include the following in your contact mail to him. So do not fail to contact Mr. Melvin Harrison with the following winnings and personal claims information. Your country of origin and country of residence/work, complete official names, a!
ddress, amount won, free ticket and lucky numbers, date of draw, contact telephone and mobile numbers. OPTIONAL: - [Sex-male, age, occupation and job title]. Mr. Melvin Harrison. E-mail Address: mh4497150@yahoo.com.hk Your email address won the online lottery on this Free Ticket Number: GBDBK35JAFQX7 and Lucky Number: RHJK628409ZZKT3Q66. The online email draws was held in Dubai United Arab Emirates on the 1st of October 2008 and your claims will be taking place either from London - United Kingdom, or from the draws venue which is Dubai - United Arab Emirates or from Bangkok - Thailand. Mr. Melvin Harrison will let you know the one it is. From: Online Winning Notification Department, UK Lottery Organization. DO NOT FORGET TO REPLY TO mh4497150@yahoo.com.hk

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam