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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.

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Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

• 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: "paulette.james@virgin.net" <paulette.james@virgin.net>
Date: Tue, 25 Oct 2005 19:34:07 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: today!


An Affiliate of the UK National Lottery355 Birmingham Road, Wylde Green,SuttonCold Field, West Midlands, B72 IDL.Ref: EAASL/941OYI/5+BBatch No.: BL040804BLUKWinning No.: 01-05-06-31-33-41
WINNING NOTICEWe happily announce to you the draws of the Euro-Asian Big LotteryInternational programs held on the2nd of september 2005here in United Kingdom in which you and forty nine (49) others were selectedas winners under drawsB6/6.Your e-mail address attached to ticketnumber:08-04-33-38-BL-UK with Serialnumber BL040811/04 drewthe lucky numbers:01-05-06-31-33-41,whichsubsequently won you the lottery in the 2ndcategory(5+B).
All participants were selected randomly fromInternetsites through computerdrawn system and from 50,000 companies.This promotion takes place quarterly.You have therefore been approved to claim a totalsumof Ł413,267.00 (FourHundred and Thirteen Thousan Two Hundred and SixtySeven GBP) as yourwinningprize. This is from a total cash prize of 12%lottery tax worth Ł549 million per year shared among the Fifty(50) luckywinners quarterly.
Please note that your lucky winning numberfallswithin our European bookletrepresentative office in Europe as indicated in theresults. In view of this,your Ł413,267.00 will be paid to you upon confirmation andclarification by our payment office in Europe.
Our European agent will immediately commencethe process to facilitate therelease of your funds assoon as you contact them. Toavoid unnecessary delaysand complications, please quote your Ticket,Referenceand Batch numbers inany correspondences with ourdesignated agent or us.Please include your telephone numbers when contacting the agent.
You should contact:Mr.thomas west
Email: lottowinnings@englandnational.com
Congratulations once more from all members andstaffsof this program. Thankyou for being part of ourpromotional lotteryprogram.
Sincerely yours,
paulette james
Customer Service

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam