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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
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• Frequently asked Questions (419 FAQ)
• Phone numbers used by 419 scammers
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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.

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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 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.
  • +2348035668189 (Nigeria, prepaid mobile phone)

Fraud email example:

From: patricia hope <ho3.pat1@msn.com>
Reply-To: <ed_cole@live.com>
Date: Fri, 12 Dec 2008 10:27:22 +0000
Subject: YOUR EMAIL HAS WON*****$820,000****IN CANADIAN LOTTERY



Canadian Lottery (Lotto lore)
Headquarters: 1a, Bexon Court Carlton
Nottingham shire NG4 1SQ Essex
United Kingdom
http://www.lottolore.com/lotto649.html

Winning notification

We happily announce to you the result of the National Lotto 6/49 lottery draws held on Wed, December 10, 2008, in Essex United Kingdom and Ontario, Canada. All participants were selected randomly from World Wide Web site through computer draws system and extracted from over 10,000,00 companies and personal e-mail addresses. Your e-mail address attached to ticket number: B9564 7560 4545 100 with serial number 046560 drew the winning 6-12-18-27-42-43,Bonus 7.

You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of US$820,000 in cash credited to file EAAL/9080118308/04. Please note that your lucky winning numbers fall within our African booklet representative office in Nigeria as indicated in your play coupon. In view of this, your US$820,000 would be released to you by and accredited commercial Bank in Africa. Our African agent will immediately commence the process to facilitate the release of you funds as soon as you contact their office. To file for your claim, please contact our corresponding agent in Africa immediately you read this message for quick and urgent release of your fund, contact information is as follows: -

Name: Mr. Edward Cole
Email: ed-cole@live.com
Tel: +2348035668189.

Congratulations once more from all members and staff of this program to all that have successfully won this competition and thank you for being part of
our promotional lottery program.

Yours Sincerely,
Mrs.Patricia Hope
Customer Service: 680 NCA 85914

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam