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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)
• Phone numbers used by 419 scammers
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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:
  • "please endeavor to " (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • "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.
  • claimsagent_irishlottery@yahoo.com

Fraud email example:

From: "BRITISH LOTTERY" <britishonline20@msn.com>
Date: Wed, 18 Jan 2006 18:55:50 +0000
Subject: WINNING NOTIFICATION!!!

   ONLINE  LUCKY WINNER   

 

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

SUCCESS ALERT:

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

We are pleased to announce to you the draw of the IRISH LOTTERY PROGRAMME online Sweepstakes International Program held on Wednesday 18th January, 2006.

 

Your e-mail address attached to 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 £550,000,00 Pounds sterling (Five Hundred And Fifty Thounsand Pounds Sterling) 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 £550,000,00 Pounds sterling would be released to you by any of our payment offices in (UK).

 

To file for your claim, please contact our Claims Agent:

Imorst Kolect (Mr).

Tel:+44-703-965-708

       +44-703-965-706
Email: claimsagent_irishlottery@yahoo.com

        

 

That way your Winnings Verifications Form
can be prepared for you. Note that all prize funds
must be claimed not later than Two Weeks.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 Bach 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.This is very real, Please be warned.

 

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

 

Yours faithfully,

PAUL HARRISON (MR).

Online Co-ordinator for IRISH LOTTERY SWEEPSTAKE PROGRAMME.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam