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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:

• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "money laundering" ("anti-terrorist", "anti-money laundering" or "drug-free" certificates are a common way for criminals in fake lottery scams and other Advance Fee scams to get you to send money to them. There are no such certificates in the real banking world. )
  • "cost of mailing your draft" (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. )
  • "deadline" (they are rushing you so you don't have time to think properly)
  • "vat (5%)" (VAT rate in the UK is 17.5%, check the math)
  • "affidavit " (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!

Fraud email example:

From: AIRFRIEGHT COURIER <lottoclaims@airfreightcouriercompany.com>
Date: Tue, 2 Oct 2007 18:53:02 +0000
Subject: ATTN:CLAIMS OPTION






AIR FRIEGHT COURIER AGENT
(REG NO: 194562)



REG ORDER NO:657252 ATTENTION: CLIENT,
This is to inform you that you have been officially cleared for payment by the verifications Dept. at the headquarters of the Uk Lottery International. The original copy of this certificate, together with a covering document (Money Laundering protection and Letter of Affidavit forClaims) from the British government stating that the money was obtained legally through their National Lotto will be sent to you and the bank as soon as you meet with any of the option selected and your winnings will be couriered or transferred to you immediately. You can now begin the final step of the claims process, which is the transferring of your cash prize to you. With regards to this, there are two options open to you, you are required to select the most convenient of the two.The options, together with their associated conditions are presented below:
Option 1: COURIER DELIVERY Courier of your winning details to you via any of this channel listed below:


(2working days)




Mailing
£275.00
00.00

Insurance
£240.00
00.00

Vat (5%)
£276.75
00.00

TOTAL
£791.75
00.00
(3 working days)




Mailing &n bsp
£290.00
00.00

Insurance
£100.00
00.00

Vat (5%)
£199.95
00.00

TOTAL
£600.95
00.00

(7working days)



Mailing
£278.00
00.00

Insurance
£180.00
00.00

Vat (5%)
£135.45
00.00

TOTAL
£583.45
00.00Forward the cost of mailing your draft/cheque with any of the courier channel cost you choose above to us. Option 2: BANK TRANSFER CHARGES
The said amount claim 1.500,000.00 pounds (One Million, Five Hundred Thousand pounds) will be wired to your bank account via swift bank transfer.Condition: The cost of COT (commission of transfer) being charged by our transferring bank is(i.e £1,500GBP) of the cash being transferred will be paid by you.Note: That your prize is protected by a insurance policy , which makes it impossible to deduct any amount from the money before it has been remitted to you. This means that the above charges cannot be deducted from the prize and hence must be provided by you first before your prize is transferred to you.

Please respond to this email by making a selection from the two options above. Also attach a scanned copy of either your driver's licence, international passport (photo page) or any other legally identifying document.Also be reminded that the deadline for the claiming of winnings is exactly two weeks after the receipt of this email. After this period, your cash prize will be deemed to have been forfeited by you and will be reused in the drawings of the next edition of the lottery.

Good luck and Congratulations once again. Please send your response within the next 24hrs to this same email address.

BEST REGARDS,

MR FRED SMITH
(dispatch officer)

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam