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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
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• 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 phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
  • "from the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • "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.
  • +447031970065 (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.
  • richardlotteryclaimdept26@yahoo.co.uk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: BRITISH NATIONAL LOTTERY<richardlotteryclaimdept26@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Mon, 01 Oct 2007 23:21:24 -1200
Subject: Congratulations ***You Have Won Ref Number: UK/9420X/05 ****

>From the desk of: Mrs. Stella Ellis

Dear Sir/Madam,

CONGRATULATIONS FOR YOUR WINNING:

We happily announce to you the draw of British National lottery Award International programme held in London. Your
e-mail address attached to ticket number: 56475600545 188, with Serial number: 5368/02 drew the winning number:
05,06,17,20,28,42 (Bonus33), which subsequently won you the lottery award in the 2nd category. Your name and email
address has therefore been approved to claim a total sum of £1,200,000.00 (One Million Two Hundred Thousand British
Pounds Sterling) in cash credited to file KPC/9030108308/03. This is from a total cash prize of £6,000,000.00 (Six
Millon Pound Sterling) shared among the first 5 lucky winners in this category worldwide.

Please note that your lucky winning number falls within our lottery booklet representative office in London as indicate
in the play coupon. In view of this, your £1,200,000.00 (One Million Two Hundred Thousand British Pounds
Sterling) would be released to you through the assistance of our agent in London immediately he commences the process to
facilitate the release of your prize as soon as you contact him.

All participants were selected randomly from Worldwide Web site through computer draw system and extracted from over
100,000,00 companies and individual email addresses. The lottery programme was organized to promote United Kingdom's
2012 Olympics hosting right. For security reasons, you are advised to keep your winning information confidential till
your winning is processed and your money remitted to you in whichever way you deem fit to claim your prize. This is part
of our precautionary measure to avoid double claiming and abuse of this programme by some unscrupulous elements.

Please you are advised to file your claim by providing the below details to our agent in London, Mr. Richard Carpenter
immediately you receive this message because you stand a risk of loosing the prize if you fail to file your claim within
a 4 days from the day you receive this notification. The Fiduciary Claims are below:

Mr. Richard Carpenter,
Tel: +44 703-197-0065
Email: richardlotteryclaimdept26@yahoo.co.uk

1.Name:............
2.Address:.........
3.Marital Status:.........
4.Occupation:............
5.Age:......................
6.Sex:......................
7.Nationality:.............
8.Country Of Residence:..........
9.Telephone Number:...............
10.Fax Number:......................
11.Comfirm Your Prize [Amount].........
12.When did you get the notification? [Date]

Furthermore, should there be any change of address, do inform your claim Agent as soon as possible. Once your agent
[Richard Carpenter] gets the above details, he will process your winnings.

Yours sincerely,
Mrs. Stella Ellis. Online coordinator for BRITISH NATIONAL LOTTERY

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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam