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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:
  • "please endeavor to " (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • "fiduciary agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "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.
  • fredcole_winnings@hotmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "Irish Lotto Company" <HawardGrant@irishlotto.net>
Reply-To: fredcole_winnings@hotmail.com
Date: Tue, 16 May 2006 03:57:04 +0100
Subject: Winning Notification

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 Saturday 13th May 2006.

Your e-mail address attached to ticket number:
56475600545 188 with Serial number 5368/05 drew the
lucky number: 35 which
subsequently won the LOTTO PLUS 1 prize. You have
therefore been approved to claim a total sum of
€350,000.00
(Three hundred and fifty thousand Euros) 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
€350,000.00 would
be released to you by any of our payment offices in
Europe(UK).

To file for your claim, please contact our fiduciary
agent:

FRED COLE

email fredcole_winnings@hotmail.com

That way your Winnings Certificate and all other
relevant documents/paperwork can be prepared for you.
Note that
all prize funds must be claimed not later than One
month; 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 Batch
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.

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

Yours faithfully,

Sir Haward Grant .

Online Co-ordinator for IRISH LOTTERY SWEEPSTAKE
PROGRAMME.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam