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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:
  1 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
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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:
  • "fiduciary agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
• 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.
  • santarino@excite.com

Fraud email example:

From: "notification lottery" <notificationlottery@msn.com>
Date: Mon, 03 Oct 2005 20:36:05 +0000
Subject: STELLA ELLIS.

The National Lottery P. O. Box 1010 Liverpool, L70 1NL UNITED KINGDOM (Customer Services) Ref: UK/9420X2/68 Batch: 074/05/ZY369 WINNING NOTIFICATION: We happily announce to you the draw (#942) of the UK NATIONAL LOTTERY, online Sweepstakes International program held on MONDAY 1st of September, 2005. It is yet to be unclaimed and you are getting the final NOTIFICATION as regards this. Your e-mail address attached to ticket number: 56475600545 188 with Serial number 5368/02 drew the lucky numbers:  which subsequently won you the lottery in the 2nd category i.e match 5 plus bonus. Your winning have been approved for claims, a total sum of £3,987,470 (Three million nine hundred and eighty seven thousand,four hundred and seventy pounds sterling) in cash credited to file KTU/9023118308/03. This is from a total cash prize of £15,949,880 shared amongst the four (4) lucky winners in this category i.e Match 5 plus bonus. All participants for the online version were selected randomly from World Wide Web sites through computer draw system and extracted from over 100,000 unions, associations, and corporate bodies that are listed online. This promotion takes place weekly. Please note that your lucky winning number falls within our European booklet representative office in Europe as indicated in your play coupon. In view of this, your £3,987,470 (Three million nine hundred and eighty seven thousand,four hundred and seventy pounds sterling)will be released to you by any of our payment offices in Europe. Our European agent will immediately commence the process to facilitate the release of your funds as soon as you contact him. For security reasons, you are advised to keep your winning information confidential till your claim is processed and your prize winnings remitted to you. This is part of our precautionary measure to avoid double claims and abuse of the program. Please be warned. To file for your claim, please contact our fiduciary agent Dr.Pedro Santarino.With your full names,address and direct contact number.  Official Email:dr-santarino@excite.com Endeavour to e-mail your full names,winning numbers,telephone and fax numbers immediately. Congratulations. Yours faithfully, Stella Ellis Online coordinator, Sweepstakes International Program. Copyright © 1994-2005

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam