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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:

• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
• 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.
  • claimpaymentofficebox@googlemail.com

Fraud email example:

From: (sent from abused email account)
Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 01:26:34 -0800
Subject: Yahoo! Mail Congratulates You!


Yahoo! Mail gives members random cash prizes. Today, your account is randomly selected as the one of 5 top winners accounts who will get cash prizes from us. We are happy to inform you that you have won prize money of Five Hundred Thousand Great Britain Pounds Sterling for the month of November 2008 in the Yahoo Mail! Promotion.

This Lottery was promoted and sponsored by a conglomerate of some multinational companies as part of their social responsibility to the citizens in the communities where they have operational base. Further more your details (e-mail address) falls within our British representative office in United Kingdom, as indicated in your play digits and your prize of five hundred thousand British Pounds will be released to you from this regional branch office in UK.

We hope with your claim collection fees, you will participate in our end of year high stakes for US$1.3 Billion international draw.

HOW TO CLAIM YOUR PRIZE

These are your identification numbers:
Batch number.......................Lwh 09445
Lotto number........................Lwh09446
Winning number...................Lwh09447

To begin your claims, kindly contact our claims agent at this email address:
claimpaymentofficebox@googlemail.com
His name is Mr. Edgar Walters
George Bala(Secretary)

You are required to forward him the following details:
1.FULL NAME
2.COUNTRY OF ORIGIN
3.PRESENT ADDRESS
4.SEX
5.DATE OF BIRTH
6.AGE
7.OCCUPATION
8.TELEPHONE NUMBER
9.FAX NUMBER(IF ANY)
10.MARITAL STATUS
11.WINNING NUMBER,BATCH NUMBER AND LOTTO NUMBER.
12 THE MONTH YOU WON

As soon as you contact him, he will advise you on what to do and how much it will cost you to get your prize money via transfer or official presentation.

Congratulations once more!!

Yours Sincerely
Dr. Lance Hoppes
PROMO CO-ORDINATOR.

Yahoo! Lottery is a service that does not require you to register or be a Yahoo! Registered, user before winning. (Payment for transfer of won fund is the sole responsibility of winners as Yahoo! exempts itself from any cost that may arise)

Note: Do not reply this mail: Contact your claims agent for processing of payment as indicated in your winning notification. Thank You

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam