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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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• 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!
• 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.
  • dispatchdesk@gmail.com

Fraud email example:

From: (sent from abused email account)
Reply-To: dispatchdesk@gmail.com
Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2008 12:48:20 -0000
Subject: WINNING NOTIFICATION









--

Ref: UK/9420X2/68

Batch: 074/05/ZY369



WINNING NOTIFICATION

Congratulations, you have just won yourself a total sum of

£750,000

(Seven Hundred and fifty thousand pounds) in cash credited

to file

KTU/9023118308/03 in the satellite software email lottery

conducted by NATIONAL PROMOTION in which e-mail addresses

are picked randomly by Software powered by the Internet.



You are to contact our Promotions' Manager for Clearance.

Here is the

contact information:



Mr. Lampard Briggs.

Email: dispatchdesk@gmail.com



You are to forward the following details to enable us clear

your file

for immediate payment:



1. Full Names:

2. Address:

3. Age:

4. Sex:

5. Occupation:

6. Phone number:

7. Country:



Yours faithfully,

Rita Donalds

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam