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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
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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 phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
• 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!

Fraud email example:

From: "Larry Ngo" <interglobalmarket@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: admin@interglobalmarket.org
Date: Sat, 01 Oct 2005 17:07:18 -0500
Subject: Winner Notification

BRITISH LOTTERY INTERNATIONAL
Headquarters: 60 Merriman Road
Blackheath London SE3 8RZ
England.

CUSTOMER SERVICE
Ref. Number: BTL/491OXI/04
Batch Number: 12/25/0304
Ticket Number: 564 75600545-188
Serial Number: 5388/02

Dear Sir/Madam,

We are pleased to inform you of the result of the Winners in our British
International Lottery Program held on the 25th of August, 2005. Your e-mail
address attached to ticket number 564 75600545-188 with serial number
5388/02 drew lucky numbers 7-14-18-31-45, which consequently won in the 2ND
category, you have therefore been approved for a lump sum pay out of
USD2,500,000 (Two Million, five hundred thousand dollars).

CONGRATULATIONS!
Due to mix up of some numbers and names, we ask that you keep your winning
information confidential until your claims have been fully processed and
your money remitted to you. This is part of our security protocol to avoid
multiple claims and unwarranted abuse of this program by some participants.
All participants were selected through a computer ballot system drawn from
over 20,000 company and 30,000,000 individual email addresses and names from
all over the world. This promotional program takes place every five years.

This lottery was promoted and sponsored by a conglomerate of some
multinational companies in Europe as part of their social responsibility to
the citizens. This year Lottery Program Jackpot is the largest ever for
British Lottery. The estimated $125 million jackpot would be the sixth
biggest in U.K. history. The biggest was the $363 million jackpot that went
to two winners in a May 2000 drawing of The Big Game, Mega Millions'
predecessor.
Your prize award has been insured in your name and is ready for claims. To
begin your claims process therefore, you are advised to expeditiously
contact our DIrector of finance for the processing of your winning and
remittance to your designated bank account after all statutory obligations
have been satisfactorily dispensed with.

Name:Larry Ngo
Email: admin@interglobalmarket.org

Our winners are assured of the utmost standards of confidentiality, and
press anonymity until the end of proceedings, and beyond where they so
desire. Be further advised to maintain the strictest level of
confidentiality until the end of proceedings to circumvent problems
associated with fraudulent claims. This is part of our precautionary measure
to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program.

Please note in order to avoid unnecessary delays and complications, remember
to quote your reference number and batch numbers in all correspondence.
Furthermore should there be any change of address do inform our agent as
soon as possible. Congratulations once more from our members of staff and
thank you for being part of our promotional program.

Note: Anybody under the age of 18 is automatically disqualified.

Yours Sincerely,
Mr. Anthony Campbell
British Lottery International (co-coordinator)

N.B: Please do not reply to this mail. Contact our director of finance.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam