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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:
  • "claims 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 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.
  • +447040124052 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: "Gary Philip" <zelaser@msn.com>
Date: Mon, 17 Oct 2005 11:01:16 +0000
Subject: UK Online Lotto Winner !!

FROM: THE LOTTERY COORDINATOR,
INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS/PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT,
BRITISH LOTTO PLUS.

Dear Prize Winner,
BRITISH LOTTO PLUS, wishes to inform you of the results of its Promotional
draws held on the 1ST of October 2005 as part of our yearly bonanza. We are
happy to officially inform you that you have emerged a winner under our
Third Category Draws.

Participants were selected through a computer ballot system drawn from
50,000 names/email addresses of individuals and companies from Africa,
America, Asia, Australia, Canada, Europe, Middle East, and New Zealand as
part of our International Promotional Program.

You have consequently been awarded a lump sum pay out of £2,200,000.00 (Two
Million Two Hundred Thousand Great Britain Pounds) in cash, which is the
winning payout for Third Category winners. This is from the total prize
money of £11,000,000.00 shared between 5 international winners in the
category.

CONGRATULATIONS!

Your fund is now deposited with ALPHA BETA FINANCE, insured in your name.
In your best interest and also to avoid mix up of numbers and names of any
kind, we request that you keep the entire details of your award strictly
from public notice until the process of
transfering your claims has been completed. This is part of our security
protocol to avoid double claiming or unscrupulous acts by participants/non
participants of this program.

The following particulars are attached to your lotto payment order:

(i) Winning Numbers: 01, 09, 17, 33, 35, 38, (45)
(ii) Ticket Number: 44-8201-093
(iii) File Reference Number: BLP20-147-2
(iv) Lotto Batch Number: A14736

For due processing and remittance of your prize money to a designated
account of your choice, please contact your claims agent immediately. Find
below all contact details;

MR. WALTER SMITH,
FOREIGN SECTION MANAGER,
ALPHA BETA FINANCE.
PHONE: +44-70-4012-4052
FAX: +44-20-7504-8763
Email: wsmith@al-bef.org

Remember, you must contact your claims agent not later than two weeks from
the date you received this email. After this date, all funds will be
returned back as unclaimed. For easy reference
and identification, your lotto payment order details stated above must be
provided to your claims
agent.

Congratulations once again from all our staff and thank you for being part
of our promotions program.


Sincerely,
GARY PHILIP,
LOTTERY COORDINATOR,
BRITISH LOTTO PLUS.
8 CHANCEL ST.
LONDON, SE1 0UX
Phone: +44-70-4012-4049
Fax: +44-20-8181-7964

N.B. Any breach of confidentiality on the part of the winners will result to
disqualification. Please do not reply to this email. Contact your claims
agent Mr. Walter Smith as specified above.
(TERMS AND CONDITIONS APPLY)

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam