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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
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• 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
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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")
• 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 mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
  • +447040118684 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
• 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.
  • londonlotto_2006@yahoo.co.uk

Fraud email example:

From: "Jonah Smith" <jonahsmith01@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: mrjonahsmith@yahoo.co.uk
Date: Fri, 17 Feb 2006 14:35:00 +0000
Subject: UK

x  

UK-LOTTO Headquarters:
The Marina Offices,
St Peters Yacht Basin,
Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 1HX
England
 
Customer Service
Ref: UK/9420X2/68
Batch: 074/05/ZY369
 
WINNING NOTIFICATION:
 
We happily announce to you the draw (#998) of the UK NATIONAL LOTTERY,online Sweepstakes International program held on monday 30th of November, 2005 in NEWCASTLE, UNITED-KINGDOM.
 
Your e-mail address attached to ticket number: 56475600545 188 with Serial number 5368/02 drew the lucky numbers:15 . 2. 3. 21. 24.38.44 47. Bonus Ball, which subsequently won you the lottery in the 1st category i.e match 6,jackpot.You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of U$D 1,536,431.00 (one million, Five Hundred and thirtysix Thousand four hundred and thirtyone United StatesDollars) in cash, credited to file ktu/9023118308/03. This is from a total cash prize of $USD 10,488,540 shared amongst the first five (5) lucky winners in this category.
 
All participants for this online version were selected randomly from World Wide Web sites through 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, yourU$D 1,536,431.00 ( one million five hundred and thirtysix thousand four hundred and thirtyone dollars) will be released to you by any of our payment offices in Europe.
 
Our European agent will immediately commence the process to facilitate
the release of your funds as soon as you contact him. For security reasons, you are advised to keep your winning information confidential till your claim is processed and your money remitted to you in whatever manner you deem fit to receive your prize. This is part of our precautionary measure to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program.
 
Please be warned!!
 
To file for your claim, contact our fiduciary agent:
 
Mr. Pual Razor
Email:  londonlotto_2006@yahoo.co.uk
Phone: +447040118684
Fax no: 44-8701258022
 
Yours Faithfully,
Mr. Jonah Smith

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam