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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 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:
  • "claims 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!

Fraud email example:

From: Mr Bill Brown <paymentdepartment_bank@yahoo.com>
Date: Sun, 9 Sep 2007 08:03:29 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: This Is How You Have Won y For Your Self


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



WINNING NOTIFICATION:

We happily announce to you the draw (#966) of the UK NATIONAL
LOTTERY,online Sweepstakes International program held on September, 2007.

Your e-mail address attached to ticket number:56475600545 188 with
Serialnumber 5368/02 drew the lucky numbers: 05 21 23 28 40 48 26
Bonus Ball which subsequently won you the lottery in the 2nd
category
i.ematch 5 plus bonus.

You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of
£250,000 (Two hundred and fifty thousand pounds sterlings)in cash
credited to file KTU/9023118308/03.

This is from a total cash prize of £1,000,000 shared amongst the first
four(5)lucky winners in this category i.e Match 5 plus bonus.

All participants for the online version were selected randomly from
WorldWide Web sites through computer draw system and extracted from
over
100,000unions,associations, and corporate bodies that are listed
online.This promotiontakes place weekly.
Please note that your lucky winning number falls within our European
bookletrepresentative office in Europe as indicated in your play
coupon.
In viewof this, your £250,000 (Two hundred and fifty thousand pounds
sterlings)would be released to you by any of ourpayment offices in
Europe.
Our European agent will immediately commence theprocess to
facilitate the release of your funds as soon as you contact him.For
security
reasons, you are advised to keep your winning information confidential
your claim is processed and your money remitted to you in whatever
manner
you deem fit to claim your prize.
This is part of our precautionary measure to avoid double claiming
and unwarranted abuse of this program. Please be warned.
To file for your claim, please contact our claims agent:


Mr:John Mark

Goodluck from me and members of staff of the UK NATIONAL LOTTERY.
Yours faithfully,
Brian Hunt
Online coordinator for UK NATIONAL LOTTERY,
Sweepstakes International Program.
Open 7 days 8am-8pm



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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam