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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:
  • "british lottery international" (no such lottery exists)
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "fiduciary agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "barrister" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
• 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!
• Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.
• 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.
  • +447011129379 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: BRITISH LOTTERY <info_britishlottery147@yahoo.com.hk>
Date: Wed, 12 Sep 2007 04:42:55 +0800 (CST)
Subject: Dear winner(Payment Release Order Dept.)



Payment Release Order Dept.
British Lottery International Online Program
United Kingdom.

Dear winner,

I am Barrister Frank Scott(Agent),the fiduciary agent assigned to your case. I wish to congratulate you and to say you are a lucky person to have won in this online lottery promotion.

We have attached a Payment Release Order Form to this email, you are required to fill in the form and send back to us.

As soon as we receive the completed form from you, we shall proceed with the claims process of your winnings.

Note that your winnings will be transferred to you via online (electronic) transfer. This is the method stipulated by the British Lottery.

You are to send your Filled Form by Email.

Once again I say congratulations and hope to hear from you soon.

(1) FULL NAME

(2) FULL ADDRESS

(3) NATIONALITY

(4) AGE

(5) OCCUPATION

(6 )TELEPHONE NUMBER

(7) SEX

(8) TOTAL AMOUNT WON


You can verify your winnings online below: http://www.lotteries.com/lotteries/wnbritish649.jsp

Yours faithfully,
Barrister Frank Scott
Foreign Services Manager.
Payment and Release Order Dept.
Phone: +(44)-701-1129-379, +(44)-704- 5721-733

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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam