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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.

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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:
  • "australian lottery" (can only win this lottery if you bought a ticket)
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "million united state dollars" (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)
  • "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)
  • "united state dollar" (this email uses bad English)
• 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.
  • +2348039272673 (Nigeria, prepaid mobile phone)

Fraud email example:

From: (sent from abused email account)
Reply-To: <agentrosemary_austra@yahoo.com>
Date: Sat, 1 Nov 2008 14:16:28 +0000
Subject: Dear Lucky winner of $1000,000.00, contact our Director of Finance
immediately



Dear Lucky winner of $1000,000.00, contact our Director of Finance immediately

Attn: Winner, We wish to congratulate you over your email success in our computer balloting held 31th October 2008.This is a Millennium Scientific Computer Game in which email addresseswere used.

All participants were selected through a computer balloting system drawn from Nine hundred thousand E-mail addresses from Canada,Australia,United States, Asia,Europe, Middle East,Africa and Oceania as part of our international promotion program which is conducted annually. Your details e-mail address fall within our European representative office in Amsterdam, Holland as indicated in your play coupon and your prize will be released to you via our regional office in Nigeria West Africa. This is a promotional program aimed at encouraging internet users;therefore you do not need to buy ticket to enter for it. You have been approved for the star prize of US$1,000.000.00 (One Million United State Dollars Only). To file for your claim, please contact our Director of Financein below. Name: Mrs Rosemary KingEmail:agenrosemary@gmail.comTel:+2348039272673 Ref: 435062725Batch: 7050470902/189Winning no: GB8101/LPRC Please quote your reference, batch and winning number whichcan be found above. The Validity period of the winnings is for 20 working days hence you are expected to make your claims immediately; Once again congratulations!!! Best Regards,Mr Martins Peters.Coordinator,Australian Lottery Inc.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam