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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
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• Frequently asked Questions (419 FAQ)
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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:
  • "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.
  • michaelsmith254@yahoo.co.uk
  • lottoagent254@yahoo.co.uk

Fraud email example:

From: "Award Winners" <intl_uklotto_winners@msn.com>
Date: Fri, 06 Jan 2006 22:17:06 +0000
Subject: NATIONAL LOTTERY OF THE UNITED KINGDOM NOTIFICATION OF CLIAMS

 

                                                                  

 

                THE NATIONAL LOTTERY OF THE UNITED KINGDOM (UK)

The National Lottery
PO Box 1010
Liverpool
L70 1NL

The United Kingdom

http://www.national-lottery.co.uk

 

NOTIFICATION OF WINNING

 

We happily announce to you the results of the UK LOTTO DRAW 1041 of The National Lottery of The UK drawn on Sat 17 Dec 2005. The Numbers Drawn are as follow;

                                            BONUS BALL

 

 

Your e-mail address was randomly selected from millions others by our computer systems as part of our UK LOTTO program which is designed to dispose of the Millions of Pounds which we hold in our UNCLAIMED WINNINGS ACCOUNT. Numbers are then randomly picked in an automated lucky dip system and then attached randomly to all individual e-mail addresses. After this process, owners of the randomly selected e-mail addresses are notified of the winnings and are then expected to file a claim for the winning(s). Where the owner of the e-mail rejects the winning by commission or omission, such winning(s) are directed to charity.

 

I happily write to inform you that your email drew the following numbers;

11, 07, 47, 15, 43, 35. (In that order)

 

This effectively qualifies you for the second category (Match 6 numbers) along with Seven other winners to jointly share the total prize of £ 4, 247, 752.00= (Four Million, Two Hundred and Forty Seven Thousand, Seven Hundred and Fifty Two Pounds only) of  which £ 530, 969. 00= (Five Hundred and Thirty Thousand, Nine Hundred and Sixty Nine Pounds only) is your TOTAL WINNING. 

 

(PLEASE, CLICK HERE TO VISIT OUR WEBSITE TO VIEW THE PRIZE BREAKDOWN)

 

Please, you are advised to file your claim for your winning(s) at least fourteen days after the sent date on this Winning Notification mail, failing which, your winning(s) will be deemed forfeited and transferred to charity.

 

Do not fail to contact our accredited claims agent that has been assigned to you. His name is

MICHAEL SMITH, MR.,

UK Lottery Agent Number: 254

e-mail: michaelsmith254@yahoo.co.uk

 

WHEN YOU REACH HIM BY MAIL, HE WILL SEND YOU OUR PRIZE CLAIMS FORM WHICH YOU ARE TO FILL AND RETURN BY FAX OR E-MAIL TO THE CLAIMS AGENT FOR PROCESSING. HE WILL GIVE YOU HIS CONTACT PHONE AND FAX NUMBER(S) THROUGH WHICH YOU ARE TO FURTHER COMMUNICATE WITH HIM. ALWAYS COPY ANY MAIL YOU SEND TO HIM TO THIS MAIL; lottoagent254@yahoo.co.uk

THIS IS TO ENABLE US MONITOR AND FACILITATE QUICK AND CORRECT DISBURSEMENT OF YOUR WINNINGS TO YOU.

 

PLEASE, WHEN CONTACTING THE CLAIMS AGENT QUOTE THIS NUMBER - UKNL/05/0564836/M6/87543.

THIS IS THE PRIZE WINNING IDENTIFICATION NUMBER ATTACHED TO YOUR E-MAIL. FAILURE TO DO THIS WILL INVALIDATE YOUR WINNING.

 

THANK YOU,

LOTTO DIRECTOR,

THE NATIONAL LOTTERY OF THE UK.

 

DO NOT REPLY THIS MAIL- PLEASE CONTACT YOUR ASSIGNED CLAIMS AGENT.

 

PLEASE READ THIS IMPORTANT SECURITY INFORMATION!

TO AVOID LOSS OF WINNINGS, KEEP THIS MAIL AND IT'S CONTENTS CONFIDENTIAL UNTIL YOU HAVE SUCCESSFULLY FILED YOUR CLAIM FOR YOUR WINNING(S). CONTACT ONLY THE AGENT ASSIGNED TO YOU WITH REGARDS TO YOUR CLAIMS AND WINNING(S). SEND ANY COMPLAINTS YOU MIGHT HAVE TO OUR AGENT MONITORING MAILBOX; lottoagent254@yahoo.co.uk  

 

NOTE (WARNING):

FRAUDULENT EMAILS ARE CIRCULATING CLAIMING TO BE THE NATIONAL UK LOTTERY SERVICE. PLEASE DO NOT HESITATE TO REPORT TO US ANY OF SUCH EMAILS YOU ENCOUNTER. ALSO NOTE THAT INTERNET SCAMMERS AND FRAUDSTERS MAY WANT TO CONTACT YOU AND ILLEGALLY ASK FOR ADVANCED FEES. THOSE ARE SCAMS. BEWARNED!

          THIS MESSAGE IS FROM THE NATIONAL UK LOTTERY SECURITY UNIT.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam