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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
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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:
  • "uk national lottery" (can only win this lottery if you bought a ticket)
• 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)
  • "payment for the courier" (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)
  • "courier company" (Courier companies mentioned in 419 scams are always fake. They will have you send money to them, but won't deliver anything. )
  • "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. If it's a lottery prize, remember that real lotteries do not pay large prizes by check. They wire the money directly to your bank account and you do not pay for that. )
• 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.
  • +447031918313 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
  • +448704609926 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: SKYNET EXPRESS DELIVERY <skynetcomdelivery01@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Tue, 5 Jun 2007 08:28:42 +0100 (BST)
Subject: CLAIMS OPTIONS:Reg order #:562725.


Skynet Express

Taking You Somewhere,,,
(REG NO:(103309)

5TH/06/07

Reg order #:562725

ATTENTION: Rainer Nageller,

Thanks for contacting us customer.

This is to inform you that you have been officially cleared for payment by the Verifications Dept. at the headquarters of the UK National Lottery.



The original copy of this certificate and your cheque 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 of your winning draft to you via any of this channel listed below:

FedEx(2working days)Delivery channel.
Mailing &n bsp;...........................£205.00
Insurance..................................£350.00
Vat (5%)...................................£044.75
TOTAL........................................£599.75

POST OFFICE MAIL (3working days)Delivery channel.
Mailing &n bsp;...........................£189.00
Insurance..................................£350.00
Vat (5%)...................................£038.95
TOTAL........................................£577.95

CARGO SHIPPING(7working days)Delivery channel.
Mailing ;......................................£130.00
Insurance...................................£350.00
Vat (5%)....................................£019.00
TOTAL.........................................£499.00

The insurance company declined reverse payment for the courier, stating that it is against their professional policy towards ensuring the safe delivery of the draft to you.

That if a reverse payment is made, and something goes wrong, that we/you cannot sue the courier company or insurance company to recover the full value of the fund as stipulated in the draft since payment for insurance cover was not made at point of mailing.

With the above reason, reverse payment is ruled out.Forward the cost of mailing your draft with any of the courier channel cost you choose above to us.

OPTION 2:

COST OF BANK TRANSFER>
Condition: The cost of COT (commission of transfer) being charged by our transferring bank, which is (£1,500 GBP)of the cash being transferred will be paid by you(winner).

Note that your prize is protected by a hardcover insurance policy by ECO TRUST 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 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.

Thank you,

Mr.Taylor White(dispatch officer)
Management.
PHONE #:+44 703 191 8313
PHONE #:+44 703 194 7582
FAX: #:+44 870 460 9926


SKY NET EXPRESS DELIVERY




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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam