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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:
  1 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
• Support our efforts to stop scams!
  
• How to report 419 spam to us
• What can you do when you receive 419 spam
  
  
• Spam archive, Daily index
  

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 director" (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.
  • ha1parker@yahoo.co.uk

Fraud email example:

From: "hope morgan" <hope_1morg@hotmail.com>
Date: Fri, 17 Feb 2006 11:50:01 +0000
Subject: IMPERIAL LOTTO UK

FROM: THE DESK OF THE ONLINE PROMOTIONS MANAGER,
INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS/PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT
IMPERIAL LOTTO UK

Dear Prize Winner,
RESULTS FOR PROMOTIONAL DRAW
IMPERIAL LOTTERY U.K wishes to announce the result of its third quarter
online
lottery promotions programme. We are pleased to officially inform you that
you have emerged as one of the 6 lucky winners in the IMPERIAL LOTTERY UK
draw
held on 27th January 2006.
All 6 winning addresses were randomly selected from a batch of 25,000
international emails drawn from the world wide web users database all over
the world.
Consequently, you have therefore been approved a total pay out of One
Million United Kingdom Pounds in cash (£1000,000 pounds sterlin). The
following particulars are attached to your lotto payment order:
(i) Winning numbers: 07, 15, 29, 37, 48, 56
(ii) Email ticket number: 273-1-3221
(iii) Lotto batch number: OE-234(P
(iv) File Ref. number: GL6341-4
Please contact the underlisted claims officer with your winning detail by
email or fax as soon as possible for the immediate release of your winnings:

Harril Parker
LOTTERY CLAIMS DIRECTOR,
CASH FLO. FINANCIAL SERVICES LTD.
28 Luke Street
London, EC2A 4AR,
United Kingdom.
ha1parker@yahoo.co.uk
Congratulations once again from all our staff and thank you for being part
of our promotions program.
Sincerely,
Ms Hope Morgan
AWARDS COORDINATOR,
INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS.
PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT, UK.
24 HOUGHTON STREET,
London WC2A 2AE
PLS NOTE: IMPERIAL LOTTERY U.K is licenced by the British Gaming Board and
National lottery.organise e-lottery promotions and winners are free to
decline their prizes
or process same in line with our policies.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam