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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:

• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "cost of mailing your draft" (this will cost you money - that's what the scam is about)
  • "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.)
  • "courier service" (Courier companies mentioned in 419 scams are always fake. They will have you send money to them, but won't deliver anything. )
• 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: FRED SMITH <airfrieghtcourierservice147@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Sun, 13 May 2007 06:15:03 +0100 (BST)
Subject: ATTN:CLAIMS OPTION




AIR FRIEGHT COURIER SERVICE
(REG NO: 194562)


REG ORDER NO:657252


ATTENTION: WINNER,

This is to inform you that you have been officially cleared for payment by the Verifications Dept. at the headquarters of the Uk Lottery International.The original copy of this certificate, together with a covering document (Money Laundering protection and Letter of Affidavit forClaims) from the British government stating that the money was obtained legally through their 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.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 most convenient of the two.
The options, together with their associated conditions are presented below:

Option 1: COURIER DELIVERY

Courier of your winning details to you via any of this channel listed below:


(2working days)
Mailing £275.00 00.00 Insurance £240.00 00.00 Vat (5%) £276.75 00.00 TOTAL £791.75 00.00


(3 working days)
Mailing &n bsp £290.00 00.00 Insurance £100.00 00.00 Vat (5%) £199.95 00.00 TOTAL £600.95 00.00

(7working days) Mailing £278.00 00.00 Insurance £180.00 00.00 Vat (5%) £135.45 00.00 TOTAL £583.45 00.00
Forward the cost of mailing your draft with
any of the courier channel cost you choose above to us.

Option 2: BANK TRANSFER CHARGES

The said amount claim 1,500,000.00 pounds (One Million, Five Hundred Thousand pounds) will be wired to your bank account via swift bank transfer.Condition: The cost of COT (commission of transfer) being charged by our transferring bank is(i.e £1,500GBP) of the cash being transferred will be paid by you.Note: That your prize is protected by a hardcover insurance policy , 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 first before your prize is transferred to you.

Please respond to this email by making a selection from the two options above. 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 two weeks 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.


BEST REGARDS
MR FRED SMITH
(dispatch officer)



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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam