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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
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• Company names mentioned in 419 spam:
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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 fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
  • "fondazione di vittorio" (not involved with lotteries)
  • "vittorio fondazione" (not involved with lotteries)
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "please endeavor to " (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
• 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.
  • +2348067415968 (Nigeria, prepaid mobile phone)
• 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.
  • fdvclaimsdept@strompost.com

Fraud email example:

From: (sent from abused email account)
Date: Sun, 23 Nov 2008 10:50:36 GMT
Subject: Confirmation Letter...

VITTORIO FONDAZIONE.
Corso Ercole I d'Este 44,
Ferrara 44100 - Italy.

Barch Number;b554300098n
Reference Number;ji00087446yt
Winning code:167714w

Attention: Recipient,

The Foundazione di Vittorio, would like to notify you
that you have been chosen by the board of trustees as
one of the RECIPIENT of a Grant/Donation cash aid of
US$850,000.00 (eight hundred and fifty thousand United
states Dollars) as charity donations/aid from the Vittorio
Foundazione for the support of the economic.

The Fondazione Di Vittorio, established 1977 by the Multi-
Million groups and now supported by United Nations Organization
(UNO) and the European Union (EU),is conceived with the objective
of human growth, educational, and community development thereby
uplifting the standard of living of people in the world.

How ever you will have to fill and submit this form to the office
of the Eco was Counselor in Nigeria for verification & direction
on how you can claim your funds, You are to contact our affiliate
Eco was Counselor office in Nigeria for the processing of your grant
/donation cash aid as this will ensure efficiency in our services,
meanwhile you will be given your donation pin number and payment-
release-order-form, which you will use in collecting the funds.

Please endeavor to quote your Qualification numbers (N-222-6747,
E-900-56) in all discussions.

=================================================
FULL NAMES:
ADDRESS:
CITY:
STATE:
ZIP:
COUNTRY:
SEX:
AGE:
MARITAL STATUS:
OCCUPATION:
E-MAIL ADDRESS:
TELEPHONE NUMBER:
=================================================
Yours faithfully,
Mr. Gianni Mattioli.
(Foundation officer)
CONTACT for CLAIMS: fdvclaimsdept@strompost.com
TEL: +2348067415968.
FAX: (610)
643-7676.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam