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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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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:

• An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "claims director" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • ",500,000" (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)
• 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.
  • +2348022140781 (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.
  • james.willfred@yahoo.co.uk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: YAHOO AWARDS CENTER <centerawsfff@msn.com>
Date: Sat, 14 Feb 2009 00:54:45 +0000
Subject: YOU HAVE WON YAHOO AWARDS CENTER



YAHOO AWARDS CENTER
124 Stockpot Road, Long sight,
Manchester M60 2DB-United Kingdom.

This is to inform you that you have won a prize money of five hundred thousand Great Britain pounds (GBP,500,000.00) for the first quarter 2009 prize promotion which is organized by YAHOO AWARDS & WINDOWS LIVE.
YAHOO collects all the email addresses of the people that are active online, among the millions that subscribed to Yahoo and Hotmail and few from other email providers. Six people are selected monthly to benefit from this promotion and you are of the Select Winners. Winners shall be paid in accordance with their Settlement Centers.
Yahoo Prize Award must be claimed not later than 30days from date of Draw Notification. Any prize not claimed within this period will be forfeited and returned to it source as unclaimed. Stated below are your identification numbers.
BATCH NUMBER: MFI/06/APA-43658 REFERENCE NUMBER: 2007234522 PIN: 1207
You are requested to contact your claims director in nigeria and send your winning identification numbers to him. You are advise only to contact your claims agent on the email below:

Email: james.willfred@yahoo.co.uk
Name: james wilfred
phone +2348022140781
You are advise only to contact on the email above.

Full name,........
country,........
contact address,..........
telephone number,.........
fax number,
marital status,......
occupation,..........
sex, date of birth......
BATCH NUMBER:.........
REFERENCE NUMBER:.........
PIN:...................

You are advised to send the following information to claims agent in Nigeria facilitate the release of your fund to you.
Your in Service
Mrs Mary Harmon

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam