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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
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• 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:

• An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
• 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)
  • "uk national lottery inc." (no such lottery exists)
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "overseas claims unit" (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.
  • +447011153092 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
• This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
  • claimsagentdrwellpaulson@yahoo.co.uk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: majemite@mchsi.com (Mrs Helen Woods)
Date: Wed, 20 Jun 2007 12:48:30 +0000
Subject: National Lottery Notification

The National Lottery
P O Box 1010
Liverpool, L70 1NL UNITED KINGDOM
(Customer Services)
Ref: UK/9420X2/68
Batch: 074/05/ZY369

Dear Lucky Winner,

RE: BONUS LOTTERY PROMOTION PRIZE AWARDS WINNING NOTIFICATION

We are pleased to notify you the draw (999) of the UK NATIONAL LOTTERY, Online
Sweepstakes International Lottery Program held on 16th June, 2007. Participants
were selected through a computer ballot system drawn from a pool of over 25,000
email addresses drawn from Europe, America, Asia, Australia, New Zealand,
Middle-East, parts of Africa, and North & South America as part of our
international promotions programme conducted annually to encourage prospective
overseas entries.

The result of our computer draw (#978) selected your email address attached to
e-ticket number: 56475600545 188 with Serial number 5368/02 drew the lucky
numbers: 8. 17. 33. 41. 43. 45 (37 Bonus Ball), which subsequently won you
the lottery in the 2nd category i.e. match 5 plus bonus. You have therefore
been approved to claim a total sum of £1,200,000 (ONE MILLION AND TWO HUNDRED
THOUSAND POUNDS STERLING) in cash credited to file KTU/9023118308/03.

Our European agent will immediately commence the process to facilitate the
release of your funds as soon as you contact him. You may wish to establish
contact via e-mail with the particulars presented below citing the batch and
reference numbers to this letter between the hours of 8.00am - 7.30pm on
Monday through Saturday.

UK NATIONAL LOTTERY : WINNING PRIZE CLIAMS-
LOTTERY CLAIMS APPLICATION FORM-C (Prize Winning Receipt)

[FULLNAME OF WINNER]..................................................
[CURRENTADDRESS]. .......................................................
[STATE/PROVINCE].........................................................
[COUNTRY/REGION]........................................................
[AGE]...........................
[SEX]...............................................
[MARTIALSTATUS]................................................
[OCCUPATION]..........................................................
[CURRENT EMAIL].............................................
[TEL/FAX]............................................................

Note that the above Claims Form should be filled and returned immediately to
the underlisted approved officer to
foster the release of your Winning Prize.

Overseas Claims Unit
United Kingdom Lottery Fiduciary
Contact Person: Dr Well Paulson
Email:claimsagentdrwellpaulson@yahoo.co.uk
Tel: +44-701-115-3092


Our winners are assured of the utmost standards of confidentiality, and press
anonymity until the end of proceedings, and beyond where they so desire. Be
further advised to maintain the strictest level of confidentiality until the
end of proceedings to circumvent problems associated with fraudulent claims.
This is part of our precautionary measure to avoid double claiming and
unwarranted abuse of this program.

© Copyright 1994-2007 The UK National Lottery Inc.
All rights reserved. Terms of Service - Guideline


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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam