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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
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• 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")
  • "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 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.
  • drawsenquirys@yahoo.co.uk

Fraud email example:

From: "CHERYL SMITH" <uklottoinfo@drawsenquiries.org>
Date: Mon, 17 Oct 2005 12:01:18 +0000
Subject: SWEEPSTAKES WINNING NOTIFICATION

The Irish Lottery
47 Meadow Vale,
Sligo, Ireland.
Ref: LSUK/2031/8161/05
Batch: R3/A312-59



CONGRATULATIONS!!!


We are pleased to announce to you the draw of the IRISH LOTTERY PROGRAMME online Sweepstakes International Program held on MONDAY 17TH OCTOBER 2005.

Your e-mail address attached to the winning ticket number: 56475600545 188 with Serial number 5368/05 drew the lucky number: 21 which subsequently won the LOTTO PLUS 1 prize. You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of 1,500,000 DOLLARS (One Million Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars) in cash credited to file KTU/9023118308/05 of Irish Lottery.

All participants for the online version were selected randomly from the World Wide Web through a 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 $1,500,000 Dollars would be released to you by any of our payment offices in Europe(UK).

To file for your claim, please contact our fiduciary agent:

Dr. CHERYL SMITH 

Email:  drawsenquirys@yahoo.co.uk

That way your Winnings Certificate and all other relevant documents/paperwork can be prepared for you. Note that all prize funds must be claimed not later than One month. After this date all funds will be returned to the LOTTERY TREASURY as unclaimed. In order to avoid unnecessary delays and complications, please endeavor to quote your Reference Number (LSUK/2031/8161/05) and Batch Number (R3/A312-59)in every correspondence with your agent. Furthermore, should there be any change in your address, do inform your
claims agent as soon as possible.

For security reasons, you are advised to keep your winning information confidential till your claims is processed and your money remitted to you in whatever manner you deem fit to claim your prize. This is part of our precautionary measure to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program. Please be warned.

Good luck from me and members of staff of the IRISH LOTTERY.

Sincerely
SAMUEL CLARK (SIR).

Online Co-ordinator for IRISH LOTTERY SWEEPSTAKE PROGRAMME 2005.  

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam