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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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• 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:

• 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: (sent from abused email account)
Date: Tue, 28 Oct 2008 05:58:15 +0000
Subject: CONGRATULATION



EU NATIONAL LOTTERY PROMO 2008Liaison Office Berlin-GermanyEmail:paulovan2@yahoo.co.ukFrom: Miss Ashley Brown.(Promotion Department) Sir/Madam, We are please to announce you as one of the 6 lucky winners in theEuropean Union National lottery Ballot Draws. All 6 winning addresses wererandomly selected from a batch of 30,000 email addresses. Your email address emerged alongside 5 others under our promotional Bdraws. Consequently, you have therefore been approved for a total pay outof (USD$2,810.000) TWO MILLION,EIGHT HUNDRED AND TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS).The following particulars are attached to your lotto payment order: (i) Winning numbers: 10,18,25,28,34,49,(60)(ii) Email ticket number: 32-1-431(iii) Reference Number: EUNL/05/UKE321(iv) International Lottery Code Number: EUNL/004-BT To commence processing of your winnings/transfer of winning sum, you mustforward a copy of this email to our Claims Department. contact detailsbelow, for further informatin, and immediate processing and release ofyour winning sum.Contact the claims department with the following: Director (Cliams Department)Contact Person: Richard Van OppenEmail:paulovan2@yahoo.co.ukCongratulations once again.N.B:1.All claims are nullified after 10 working days from today.-----------------------------------------------------------------------If you have received this email, it mean you are one of the recent winnersfrom our random lottery ballot system draws, however, if you feel you havebeen selected in error please visit the link below to unsubscribe from ourselected winners list

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam