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

Fraud email example:

From: "MR. DONALD BROWN" <donald_brown_agent@yahoo.com> (may be fake)
Date: Fri, 7 Jul 2006 11:05:59 +0200
Subject: WINNING NOTIFICATION

THE UK NATIONAL LOTTERY SERVICE
P O Box 1010 Liverpool, L70
1NL UNITED KINGDOM
(Customer's Service Center)
Ref Number: UK/9420X2/68
Batch Number: 074/05/ZY369
WINNING NOTIFICATION/ PROCESSING ADVICE:

We happily announce to you the draw (#1020) of the UK NATIONAL LOTTERY, online Sweepstakes International program held on Monday 3th of july, 2006. Your e-mail address attached to ticket number: 56475600545 188 with Serial number 5368/02 drew the lucky numbers:
10 14 26 28 33 38 23

which subsequently won you the lottery in the 2nd category. You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of £2,767,607(Two million, seven hundred and sixty-seven thousand, six hundred and seven pounds sterling) in cash credited to file KTU/9023118308/03. This is from a total cash prize of £5,535,214 shared amongst the two (2) lucky winners in this category. All participants for the 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.

In view of this, you have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of £2,767,607(Two million, seven hundred and sixty-seven thousand, six hundred and seven pounds sterling) which 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 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. Please be warned. To file for your claim, please contact our fiduciary agent:

MR. DONALD BROWN
Email: donald_brown_agent@yahoo.com
For the immediate release of your funds you are to provide the following details to our fiduciary agent;
FULL NAMES OF BENEFICIARY:........................
CONTACT ADDRESS:..................................
CITY/STATE:.......................................
COUNTRY:..........................................
NATIONALITY:......................................
SEX:.......................AGE:...................
MARITAL STATUS...................................
TEL NO:...........................................
NEXT OF KIN:......................................
AMOUNT WON:.......................................
REFENCE NO:................BATCH NO:..............
LUCKY NO:..................TICKET NO..............
SERIAL NO:.................LOTTERY DATE:..........
Good luck from me and members of staff of the UK NATIONAL LOTTERY.
Yours faithfully,
MR ANTHONY PARKER
Online coordinator for UK NATIONAL LOTTERY
Sweepstakes International Program.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam