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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
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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:
  • "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.
  • winninginfoclaimdept@yahoo.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "UK LOTTERY PROMO" <promolotteryuk@msn.com>
Reply-To: parker_onlineclaimsofficer@yahoo.co.uk
Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2006 13:37:18 +0000
Subject: CONGRATULATION!!! FINAL WINNING NOTIFICATION FROM THE NATIONAL LOTTERY.

National Lottery                                 P O Box 1010 Liverpool, L70 1NL UNITED KINGDOM (Customer Services)        Ref: UK/9420X2/68                   Batch: 074/05/ZY369                                        WINNING NOTIFICATION          We happily announce to you the draw (#1068) of the UK NATIONAL LOTTERY,online Sweepstakes International program held on Wednesday 29th March 2006. Your e-mail address attached to ticket number : 56475600545  188 with  Serial number 5368/02 drew the lucky numbers:   Bonus Ball which subsequently won you the lottery in the 1st category i.e. match 6. You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of £2,532,137(Two million five hundred and thirty two  thousand one hundred and thirty seven pounds sterling) in cash credited to file  KTU/9023118308/03. This is from a total cash prize of £7,596,411 shared amongst the first three(3) lucky winners in this category i.e Match 6. All participants for the online version were selected randomly from  WorldWide Web sites through computer draw system and extracted from over 100,000unions,associations, and corporate bodies that are listed online.This promotion takes place twice a week(Wednesdays and Saturdays).   Please note that your lucky winning number falls within our European bookletrepresentative office in Europe as indicated in your play coupon.   In  view of this, your £2,532,137(Two million five hundred and thirty two thousand one hundred and thirty seven pounds sterling)would 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 untill your claim 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. Please be warned. To file for your claim, please fill the form below and contact our claims agent whose details is given below.:   Name_____________________________________   Sex______________________________________   Age______________________________________   Email______________________________________   Marital Status___________________________   Occupation________________________________   Address__________________________________   Telephone________________________________   State___________________________________   Country_________________________________   Ticket Number_______________________________   Serial Number__________________________________   File Number___________________________________   Draw Number___________________________________   Amount Won____________________________________                     CLAIMS AGENT CONTACT. Name :Mr.Martins Cobtree.  Email:winninginfoclaimdept@yahoo.com CONGRATULATIONS  FROM THE MEMBERS AND STAFF OF UK NATIONAL LOTTERY. Yours faithfully, Mr. Brian Hunt. Online coordinator for UK NATIONAL LOTTERY Sweepstakes International Program. NATIONAL LOTTERY.                                                               Mr.  Brian Hunt.                                                    Online coordinator   © 2006 Uk National Lottery. All rights reserved

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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam