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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!
  
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• 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:
  • "00,000.00" (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 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.
  • nationnalotry@yahoo.co.uk

Fraud email example:

From: (sent from abused email account)
Date: Fri, 24 Oct 2008 04:04:17 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS Yahoo Beta Awards Center


¡Tengo nueva dirección de correo!Ahora puedes escribirme a:dr.andysonwilliams@yahoo.com.co



- dr.andyson Williams CONGRATULATIONS Yahoo Beta Awards Center 124 Stockport Road, Longsight Manchester M60 2DB - United Kingdom AOL.com This is to inform you that you have won a prize money of ONE HUNDREAD THOUSAND GREAT BRITAIN POUNDS RLING (₤100,000.00) in the YEAR 2008 YAHOO! Lottery promotion which is organized YAHOO! LOTTERY INC .AOL.COM and HOTMAIL for the introduction and Launching of the new YAHOO! BETA MAIL and Windows Live Mail Beta which all YAHOO! And HOTMAIL subscribers are required to switch to. BRIEF WINNING INFORMATIONS YAHOO!& MICROSOFT WINDOWS,arranged and gathered all the e-mail addresses of the people that are active online, among the millions that subscribe at YAHOO!,HOTMAIL.AOL and others weonly selected ONE THOUSAND EMAILS FROM ALL VER THE WORLD(1,000)candidates as our winners after undergoing the random selection process through Electronic Balloting System (E.B.S) without the candidate applied, we congratulate you for being one of the people selected. PAYMENT OF PRIZE AND CLAIM Winners shall be paid in accordance with his/her Settlement Center . Yahoo Prize Award must be claimed no later than 21 days from date of Draw Notification. Any prize not claimed within this period will be forfeited Stated below are your identification numbers: IDENTIFICATION NUMBERS: Batch number.....................YBM-WBS-2008390AF Reff number........................YBM-WBS-200804522AF Winning number...............YBM-WBS-200878AF Now take the next step and claim your money and say thanks to Yahoo! and Hotmail We hope you're enjoying your new Yahoo! Mail account and Hotmail account. TESTIMONIES OF OUR PAST LUCKY WINNERS These numbers above fall within the United Kingdom agent's Location file, you are requeted to contact Dr.Williams Andyson and send your Identification Numbers and Personal Information to him: at his email: E-mail: nationnalotry@yahoo.co.uk You are therefore advised to send the following information to him to facilitate them and process the transfer of your fund with the appointed paying bank. Send your Identification Numbers/Your Personal Information to him so that he will proceed further for your prize claim immediately: PERSONAL INFORMATION 1. Full name.................. 2. Country.................... 3. Contact Address...... 4. Telephone Number.. 5. Marital Status......... 6. Occupation.............. 7. Age.......................... 8. Sex............................ Congratulations!! Once again. Please be warned : For security reasons, you are advised to keep your winning information confidential till your claims is processed and your money remitted to you in whatever manner you deem fit to claim your prize. This is part of our precautionary measure to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program by some unscrupulous elements Yours Sincerely, Mrs Allan Teresa. United Kingdom Zonal Co-ordinator. Mr. Richard Watson United Kingdom Zonal Secretary General. John Branscombe

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam