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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:

• 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:
  • "national lottery promotion" (no such lottery exists)
  • "uk national lottery" (can only win this lottery if you bought a ticket)
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "claim agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "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!
• 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.
  • mr_thomasjeff20001@yahoo.co.uk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "u.n u.n" <mesenger5@hotmail.co.uk>
Date: Thu, 23 Aug 2007 00:27:48 +0100
Subject: OFFICIAL PRIZE NOTIFICATION(Contact our claim agent)



UK NATIONAL LOTTERY PROMOTIONCustomer Service /Foreign Claims DeptRef: UK/9420X2/68Batch: 074/05/ZY369Serial number: 5368/02UNITED KINGDOM.
ATTN: Winner, WINNING NOTIFICATION: Congratulations once again from all the staff, you have been Selected in the UKON 2007 Lottery Program. Our lottery program selection has finally been performed today which was held at the Marina office, randomly selected along with others from over 125,600 websites on the INTERNET. Each email address was attached to a ticket number. This was selected along with nine others as winners of £2,500,000.00 in the second category. In order to verify your winnings, we need your particulars for record purposes. Please fill accordingly so as to proceed with your winnings. Once again, congratulations from all the staff. You are required to quote your ref, batch, serial, number respectively for verification purposes .As soon as. I receive your reply; I will be directing you to were to claim your winnings. Contact your claim agent: Name: SIR THOMAS JEFFE-mail:mr_thomasjeff20001@yahoo.co.uk (1).FULL NAMES:(2).DATE OF BIRTH:(3).SEX:(4).MARITAL STATUS:(5).CONTACT ADDRESS:(6).TELEPHONE NUMBER:(7).OCCUPATION:(8).BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF COMPANY/INDIVIDUAL:(9).DRIVERS LICENCE/INTERNATIONALPASSPORT:(10).AMOUNT WON:(11).DATE OF DRAW:(12).INDICATE PREFERRED MODE OF PRIZE COLLECTION:(13).PICK UP ANOPTION FOR YOUR DELIVERY. (1).Bank transfer Services? (2).Courier Service?Once Again Congratulations!!!
Yours faithfully,MR JOHN LUGARD(Online coordinator for UK National Lottery Agent)
_________________________________________________________________
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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam