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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:
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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:

• An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "fiduciary agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "foreign service manager" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
• 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.
  • +447040117556 (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.
  • agentgeorge_john@yahoo.co.uk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "UK LOTTERY PROMOTIONS" <uklotterypromotions@msn.com>
Reply-To: emily_jones2005@yahoo.com
Date: Thu, 18 Aug 2005 09:19:47 +0000
Subject: RE/AWARD NOTIFICATION; FINAL NOTICE

FROM:THE DESK OF THE PROMOTIONS MANAGER,
INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS/PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT,
The National Lottery
P O Box 1010
Liverpool, L70 1NL
UNITED KINGDOM
(Customer Services)
Ref: UK/9420X2/68, Batch: 074/05/ZY369
RE/AWARD NOTIFICATION; FINAL NOTICE
We happily announce to you the draw (#909) of the UK NATIONAL
LOTTERY,online Sweepstakes International program held on 5th of august
2005.Youre-mail address attached to ticket number: 56475600545 188 with
Serial number5368/02 drew the lucky numbers:02-10-30-36-37-43-29 (bonus
No.), whichsubsequently won you the lottery in the 2nd category i.e. match 5
plusbonus.You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of
£1,500,000(one million five hundred thousand great british pounds sterling)
in cashcredited to file KTU/9023118308/03.This is from a total cash prize of
£10,500,000 shared amongst the firstseven (7) lucky winners in this category
i.e. Match 5 plus bonus.
All participants for the online version were selected randomly from
World Wide Web sites through computer draw system and extracted from
over100,000 associations, and corporate bodies that are listed online.
Thispromotion 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. Inview of this, your £1,500000 (one million five hundred thousand
great britainpounds sterling) would be released to you by any of our payment
offices inEurope.Our European agent will immediately commence the process
tofacilitate the release of your funds as soon as you contact him.For
security reasons, you are advised to keep your winning
informationconfidential till your claims is processed and your money
remitted toyou in whatever manner you deem fit to claim your prize.This is
part of ourprecautionary measure to avoid double claiming and unwarranted
abuse ofthis program. Please be warned.
To file for your claim, please contact our fiduciary Agent:
MR.GEROGE JOHN
FOREIGN SERVICE MANAGER,
Maximum Security Trust & Ace Finance Int'
TEL:+44-704-0117-556
TEL.+44-703-1948-977
FAX: +44-87-1239-015
Email:agentgeorge_john@yahoo.co.uk
You can go to our online result site to confirm the Value of your
winnings and also get a prize
breakdown:-http://www.national-lottery.com/results.asp
Good luck from me and members of staff of the UK NATIONAL LOTTERY.
Remember, all winning must be claimed not later than 30th of august
2005.
Please note,in order to avoid unnecessary delays and
complications, remember to quote your reference number and batch number
in all correspondence. Furthermore, should there be any change of
addressdo inform our agent as soon as possible.
Once again congratulations.
Yours faithfully,
EMILY JONES
Online coordinator for UK NATIONAL LOTTERY
Sweepstakes International Program

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam