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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:

• An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "claim agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • ",000,000" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
• 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.
  • +447045707569 (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.
  • btlp_agent@yahoo.co.uk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "BRITISH TELECOMS GLOBAL LOTTERY PROGRAM " <online123@core.com>
Reply-To: btglp_service@yahoo.co.uk
Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2007 08:44:35 -0400
Subject: Congratulations!! Congratulations!! Congratulations!!


Dear Winner,

Congratulations!! Congratulations!! Congratulations!!

You were a winner of our BRITISH TELECOMS GLOBAL LOTTERY PROGRAM that was held on the 20th june 2007. Due to mix up of email address, the results were finally released on 23th July 2007. Winners were selected through a computer ballot system drawn from ''300,000,000'' E-mail addresses, from eight different Zones; North America, Latin America, Caribbean, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Middle East, Asia, South Asia and Australia/South Pacific.

Your E-mail address generated British Telecom jackpot number 0220-T11444999-05P50 with serial number BT/400550/SH, drew the lucky numbers 4-18-24-30-31-35-78-10, which consequently won the lottery in the 1st category.

You have therefore been approved for a lump sum payout of � 1.5M (One Million Five Hundred Thousand pounds) to file reference number: BTGL/1500000/05p50/15305,from a total cash price of �22.500,000.00 (Twenty Two Million Five Hundred Thousand pounds) shared among fifteen (15) international winners in this grand category. Our agent will immediately commence the process to facilitate the release of your winning do get back to him with the following information
1. FULL NAMES
2.NATIONALITY
3. DATE OF BIRTH
4. SEX
5. MARITAL STATUS
6.CONTACT ADDRESS
7.TELEPHONE NUMBER
8.OCCUPATION,9.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF COMPANY/INDIVIDUAL,10.WINNING E-MAIL ADDRESS
11.WINNING NUMBER
12TOTAL AMOUNT WON

CLAIM AGENT.
Mr. Philps Cusworths
Email: btlp_agent@yahoo.co.uk
TEL +44 70457 07569

Congratulations once again from all members of our staff and thanks for being part of our promotions program.

Mike Bower
Promotion Department

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam