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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:

• 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!

Fraud email example:

From: =?UTF-8?Q?claimsagent=5Fallenmaxwell?= <claimsagent_allenmaxwell@o2.pl>
Date: Sat, 10 Feb 2007 02:06:04 +0100
Subject: =?UTF-8?Q?VERIFICATION=20AND=20CLEARANCE=20FORM?=



ATTENTION: Winner, Congratulations once again from all the staff here. In order to verify your winnings, we need your particulars for record purposes. Attached here is a copy of our verifications form, please fill accordingly so as to proceed with your winnings. Once again congratulations from all the staff. Upon receipt of the duly requested data, I will send you the contact information of the payments office so you can proceed with effecting the release of your claim in anyway you deem fit. VERIFICATION AND CLEARANCE FORM
1. FULL NAMES: COMPANY NAME (IF APPLICABLE):
2. ADDRESS:
3. SEX:
4. AGE:
5. MARITAL STATUS :
6. OCCUPATION
7. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF COMPANY/INDIVIDUAL:
8. E-MAIL ADDRESS: 9. TELEPHONE NUMBER(S): FAX: 10. DATE OF BIRTH: 11. COUNTRY OF RESIDENCE: 12. NATIONALITY: WINNING INFORMATION'S13. BATCH NUMBER B. REF NUMBER:
14. PRIZE WINNING DETAILS (TICKET NO.): 023-1111-790-458 Serial NO.: 15. AMOUNT WON:
NOTE: THIS VERIFICATION FORM SHOULD BE COMPLETELY FILLED OUT AND E- MAILED BACK TO ME WITHIN 72HOURS OF RECEIPT OF THIS FORM.
Best Regards,
Allen Maxwell (Mr.),
Claims/Verification Agent,
UK National Lottery

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam