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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
• Support our efforts to stop scams!
  
• How to report 419 spam to us
• What can you do when you receive 419 spam
  
  
• Spam archive, Daily index
  

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:

• 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 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.
  • +447040117587 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: uklotto@tmobileprepaid.com
Date: Tue, 17 Oct 2006 01:23:04 +0100
Subject: ***Congratulations!!!

Dear Winner,

We happily announce to you the draw (#954) of the UNITED KINGDOM 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 participants.

To file for your claims, please contact our fiduciary agent and do not forget to
summit the following to our Fiduciary Agent.

(1) Your Full Names:
(2) Telephone Number:
(3) Reference Number:

Piccan Moore
Tel: +44-704-011-7587
Fax: +44-700-596-1627
Email:piccanmoore@aol.com

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 30th
October 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 agencie are not allowed to claim prize

We wish you continued good fortunes.

Sincerely,

Joseph Scott,
Vice President
United Kingdom Promotions

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam