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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:

• The following fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
  • "microsoft lottery"
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "deadline" (they are rushing you so you don't have time to think properly)
  • "vat (5%)" (VAT is 17.5% in the UK but 5% in Nigeria)
  • "affidavit " (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
  • "cheque " (Beware of any scheme that involves cashing checks or money orders and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere - you'll be liable for the entire amount if the checks or money orders turn out to be fake, even after you have received and forwarded cash)
• 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.
  • +447024082451 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: "FIVEWAY EXPRESS COURIER LTD" <fivewayxpresscourier@myway.com>
Date: Wed, 20 Dec 2006 03:31:49 -0500 (EST)
Subject: Choose Your Delivery Option!!Congratulations



FIVE WAYS EXPRESS COURIER



20th of December 2006Reg order no:D415145



Dear Albertina Leh,
This is to inform you that you have been officially cleared for payment by the Verifications Dept. at the headquarters of the MICROSOFT Lottery.

The original copy of your winning certificate and your cheque from the British government stating that the money was obtained legally through their Ms National Lotto will be sent to you and the bank as soon as you meet with any of the option selected and your winnings will be couriered or transferred to you immediately.






The original copy of this certificate together with a covering document (Money Laundering protection and Letter of Affidavit for Claims) from the British government stating that the money was obtained legally through their National Lotto will be couriered to the payment bank and transferred to you as soon as you meet with any of the option listed below and your winnings will be couriered and transferred to you immediately.

You can now begin the final step of the claims process, which is the transferring of your cash prize to you. With regards to this, there are two options open to you; you are required to select the more convenient of the two. The options, together with their associated conditions are presented below:

DELIVERY DESTINATION

(1).NAME:
(2).ADDRESS:
(3).PHONE NUMBER:
(4).POSTER CODE:
(5).COUNTRY:

OPTION 1: Courier of your winning draft to payment centre via any of this channel listed below:





TWO DAY DELIVERYAn original certificate of weight.....0.9GrammsTotal weight of parcel................0.9GrammsColour of parcel......................BrownFlight; ..............................$080.00 Insurance.............................$750.00Vat (5%)..............................$019.00TOTAL.................................$849.00
SAME DAYAn original certificate of weight.....0.9GrammsTotal weight of parcel................0.9GrammsColour of parcel......................BrownFlight; ..............................$100.00 Insurance.............................$1430.00Vat (5%)..............................$019.00TOTAL.................................$1549.00


OPTION 2:

Condition: The cost of COT (commission of transfer) being charged by our transfering bank, which is ($3,500USD) of the cash being transferred will be paid by you(winner).

Note that your prize is protected by a hardcover insurance company which makes it impossible to deduct any amount from the money before it has been remitted to you. This means that the above charges cannot be deducted from the prize and hence must be provided by you before your prize is transferred to you.

Also attach a scanned copy of either your driver's licence, international passport (photo page) or any other legally identifying document.

Also be reminded that the deadline for the claiming of winnings is exactly one week after the receipt of this email. After this period, your cash prize will be deemed to have been forfeited by you and will be reused in the drawings of the next edition of the lottery.

Good luck and Congratulations once again. Please send your response within the next 24hrs to this same email address.

Mr.Alex Peter(dispatch officer),
FIVE WAYS Express Courier Services,Building 219, Epsom Square, Heathrow Airport,Hounslow, Middlesex, TW6 2DG

TEL:+44-702-408-2451

Open 7days-24hrs-365days a year




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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam