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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:
  • "claim 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.
  • +447024031411 (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.
  • smithj_2008@yahoo.co.uk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "UK National Lottery." <jsmith@mail.az>
Reply-To: smithj_2008@yahoo.co.uk
Date: Mon, 21 Aug 2006 15:39:50 -0700
Subject: Winning Notification.

UK NATIONAL LOTTERY INTERNATIONAL PROMOTION
28 TANFIELD ROAD
CROYDON.LONDON
Reference Number: UK010105JAN
Batch:JAN/1051/05
Sir / Madam
We happily announce to you the draw (#954) of the UK NATIONAL LOTTERY, online Sweepstakes International program.Your e-mail address attached to ticket number: 013-2316-2002-577 with Serial Number: A025-09, Drew lucky numbers: (13)-(43)-(06)-(15)-(02)-(40) bonus # (09). which consequently won in the 2nd category. You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of £1,000,000.00 (One Million Pounds Sterling) shared among the first ten (10) lucky winners in this category. All participants were selected through a computer ballot system drawn from over 300,000 companies and 40,000,000 individual email addresses and names from all over the world. Due to mix up of some numbers and names, we ask that you keep your Winning information confidential until your claims have been processed and your money paid out to you. This is part of our security protocol to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program by some participa
nts. To file for your claims, please contact our CLAIM AGENT and do not forget to summit the following to our Claim Agent .
(1) Your Full Names:
(2) Telephone Number:
(3) Reference Number:
CLAIM AGENT
Mr. John Smith
Tel: +44 702 403 1411
Tel: +44 703 194 7238
Fax: +44 700 580 3011
Email: smithj_2008@yahoo.co.uk
Please, be aware that our Paying Bank will remit Payment Swiftly upon satisfactory report, Verifications and validations provided by our processing Agent that would be designated to your file. Remember, all winning must be CLAIMED not later than 15th of September 2006. After this date all unclaimed funds would be included in the next stake. Please note that in other to avoid unnecessary delays and complications remember to quote your reference information in all correspondence. Furthermore, should there be any eventual change of information please inform our Agent as quickly as possible.
Congratulations once more from our members of staff and thanks for being part of our promotional program. Note: Anybody under the age of 16 is automatically disqualified. Members of the affiliate agencies are automatically not allowed to participate in this program.
Yours truly,
Mrs. Sarah Jones.
Games / Lottery Coordinator.
Central Europe Zone.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam