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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:

• 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!

Fraud email example:

From: "Mrs Kate Davids" <katedavids01@msn.com>
Date: Sat, 01 Oct 2005 20:26:04 +0000
Subject: YOUR WINNING NOTIFICATION!!!

British Lottery Headquarters:
Customer Service
28 Tanfield Road,
Croydon.London
Ref: EAASL/941OYI/02
Batch: 12/25/0034
 
WINNING NOTIFICATION:
 
We happily announce to you the draw of the British Lottery International programs held on the 30th of september 2005 in London.Your e-mail address attached to ticket number: 56475600545 188 with Serial number 5388/02 drew the lucky numbers: 31-6-26-13-35-7,which subsequently won you the lottery in the 2nd category.You are therefore, been approved to claim atotal sum of £1,000,000.00 (One Million British pounds) in cash. This is from a total cash prize of£50 Million pounds shared amongst the first Fifty (50) lucky winners in this category.
 
This year Lottery Program Jackpot is the largest ever for British Lottery.The estimated £50 million pounds jackpot would be the sixth-biggest in U.K. history.The biggest was the £40 million jackpot that went totwo winners in a May 2000 drawing of The Big Game,Mega Millions'predecessor.
 
Please note that your lucky winning number falls
within our European booklet representative office in Europe as indicated in our play coupon. In view ofthis, your £1,000,000.00 (one million british pounds) would be released to you by our affiliate bank in London.Our agent will immediately commence the processto facilitate the release of your funds to you as soon as you make contact with him.All participants were selected randomly from World Wide Website through computer draw system and extracted from over 100,000 companies.This promotion takes place annually.
 
For security reasons, you are advise to keep your winning information confidential till your claims is processed and your money remitted to you in what ever manner you deem fit to claim your prize.This is a part of our precautionary measure to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program by some unscrupulous elements,Please be warn.
To file for your claim, please contact our fiduciary agent with the details for processing of your claims.
 
AGENT: Mr.Crawford Wood
EMAIL :  crawford_wood@uk2.net 
 
To avoid unnecessary delays and complications, please quote your full Names/reference/batch numbers in any correspondences with us or our designated agent.Congratulations once more from all members and staffs of this program.Thank you for being part of our promotional lottery program.
 
Sincerely,
Mrs.Kate Davids.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam