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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

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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:
  • "cost of transfer" (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. Never ever send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally. )
  • ",500,000" (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)
  • "00,000.00" (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)
  • "courier company" (Courier companies mentioned in 419 scams are always fake. They will have you send money to them, but won't deliver anything. )
  • "cheque " (Beware of any scheme that involves cashing checks or money orders and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere - you'll be liable for the entire amount if the checks or money orders turn out to be fake, even after you have received and forwarded cash. If it's a lottery prize, remember that real lotteries do not pay large prizes by check. They wire the money directly to your bank account and you do not pay for that. Many scammers promise a large check only in order to then demand payment of courier fees for a fake courier service. )
• 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.
  • +447011152991 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
  • +448704791903 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: LINK TRUST FINANCE LIMITED L T F L UK <linktrust_financelimited@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Thu, 26 Jun 2008 11:27:46 +0000 (GMT)
Subject: Attention: Hans Verhoeve ( WINNING PRIZE TRANSFER )



Attention: Hans Verhoeve


Dear Prize winner,

PREMIER LOTTERY UK conducted its final draws participants were selected
through a Computer ballot system, Lucky winners were selected at random via a
computer ballot system drawn from 2,500,000 email addresses of individuals and
Corporate bodies from Africa, America, Asia, Australia, Europe, Middle East, and
Oceania. You emerged as one of the grand draw prize in the Category A and are
therefore entitled to a sum of £2,500,000.00 ( Two million five hundred thousand
Great Britain pounds only). Note that the Category A draws under which you won
is a free promotional draw; hence you do not have to purchase tickets to
participate. Names and email addresses of individuals and companies are selected
from various lottery companies email database from around the world and entered
into the draw. This draw is being organized because PREMIER LOTTERY UK intend on
opening offices spread around the world in the near future, hence they want to
promote the company name to enhance ticket sales immediately their new offices
are opened. Note that the Category A draws is funded from the proceeds of ticket
sales in the First and Second category draw also organized by PREMIER LOTTERY UK
. My company, LINK TRUST FINANCE COMPANY UK . is, upon agreements with PREMIER
LOTTERY UK to handle all transfer matters between PREMIER LOTTERY UK , and you
the winner. We shall commence the transfer of your prize winning accordingly
upon meeting of our requirements.

I believe the situation is clear to you now.

IMPORTANT NOTE: PRIZE TRANSFER OPTIONS

I would like to thank you for all the information you have supplied for a
smooth verification of your winning, Please note that after verifying your
winning data's with Premier Lottery and the one we have in our database, it was
confirmed that you are one of the two lucky winning in the ( 2008 Premier
Lottery Promo ). You are advised to choose 1 from the options below, in
order for you to collect your Prize winnings immediately.

OPTION 1:
You come down to our office in London to
collect your certificate and also take it to our payment center in person to
redeem your winning.

Explanation
I would like to start by going through the
options one after the other. The first option, gives you an option of coming to
Uk and personally finish the process of transfer your self, this doesn?t mean we
will entirely leave the work for you but you will be on hand to witness the
entire process and sign necessary documents, which we will need for transfer.
Here total-traveling expenses will be incurred by you and all transfer charges
too, the only advantage is your physical presence.

OPTION 2:
You employ the services of our affiliate
courier company to send your certificate and to the payment center for
telegraphic transfer of your winning sum to your local bank account. Details
will be given to you as soon as possible accordingly.

Explanation
Secondly, is a courier option, your cheque,
with your winning amount can be sent via courier to you or our paying bank to
make transfer of your winnings to your account. Note that for this option, when
a cheque is sent to you, it will be deposited in your account to clear, this
sometimes take as long as two weeks depending on your local bank, and also if
you decided to send your cheque through our paying bank, it would take far less
time to effect that transfer. This is the cheapest of all the options, as you
will only pay courier charges.

OPTION 3:
This gives you an option of a bank to bank
transfer, which can also be referred to as wire transfer. This option will take
a maximum of 4working days if chosen

Explanation
Lastly, a bank to bank or wire transfer
will require our bank, to wire transfer your winnings to you. You must
understand that because of terrorist attacks in Europe and other parts of the
world, a lot of checks have to be done before they can certify smooth transfer,
this along side with other government regulatory charges, you will have to pay
for. With less than 1,875 Pounds, you should have gotten the
relevant clearance papers; we need for your transfer
.
Please note that
"OPTION 2 and 3" will mean you are to shoulder the cost of
transfer, as this is not our responsibility

Note that, in the past we shouldered the responsibility of paying with
winners prize winnings, in other words deduct from winnings, it came to the
notice of the gaming board that agents exploit, miss appropriate and miss handle
winners winnings by asking for all kinds of amounts from winnings. In other to
curb this act, they resolved that all prizes be insured in its real value and as
such shouldn?t be touched by agents.

Once again congratulations.

I hope you understand as I have explained.

Regards,

Mrs. Susan Edwards.
FINANCIAL DIRECTOR
TEL : +44 701 115 2991
FAX : +44 870 479 1903
LINK TRUST FINANCE COMPANY ( UK )

____________________________________________________________________________

Disclaimer and confidentiality note:
Everything in this e-mail and any
attachments relating to the official business of Link Trust Finance Limited is
proprietary to the group. It is confidential, legally privileged and protected
by law. Link Trust Finance Limited does not own and endorse any other content.
Views and opinions are those of the sender unless clearly stated as being that
of the group. The person addressed in the e-mail is the sole authorized
recipient. Please notify the sender immediately if it has unintentionally
reached you and do not read, assure that the integrity of this communication has
been maintained or that it disclose or use the content in any way. Link Trust
Finance Limited can not is free of errors, virus, interception or interference.

____________________________________________________________________________


__________________________________________________________
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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam