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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
• Support our efforts to stop scams!
  
• How to report 419 spam to us
• What can you do when you receive 419 spam
  
  
• Spam archive, Daily index
  

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:
  • "fiduciary agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
• 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.
  • +447035910957 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: "Shell Awards Department" <ukshell1@gazeta.pl>
Reply-To: shellukplc@live.com
Date: Sun, 29 Jun 2008 11:27:33 -0700
Subject: Congratulations Your E-mail has Won 92,000 GB Pounds


[image: Shell logo] Shell Petroleum Development Company United
Kingdom [image: Shell logo]


================================================================================================================
PO Box 1100 Chesterfield S44 5YQ, Telephone:
0703 591 0957, Email: shellukplc@live.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------
*BATCH REF: JUNE/008/YY

This is to inform you that you have won a prize money of Ninety Two Thousand
Great British Pounds [92,000 GBP] for the 2008 International E-mail Draw
Awards which is Organized by Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC).

SPDC collects all the email addresses of the people that are active online,
among the millions that subscribed to Yahoo, Aol, Walla,
Gmail<http://gmail.google.com/>,
American Mail, Russian Mail, Indian Mail, Arabic Mail,
Hotmail<http://www.hotmail.com/>and few from other e-mail providers.
Six people are selected yearly to
benefit from this promotion and you are one of the Selected Winners.

PAYMENT OF PRIZE AND CLAIM

Winners shall be paid in accordance with his/her Settlement Center. Shell
Award must be claimed not later than 15 days from date of Draw Notification.
Any Prize not claimed within this period will be forfeited.

Stated below is your identification number:

REFERENCE NUMBER: SPDC-081511

This numbers fall within the European Location File [ELF], you are requested
to contact our fiduciary agent in England [Mr. Alex Johnson] with the
details below and send your winning identification numbers to him;

Agent Name: Mr. Alex Johnson*******
* E-Mail: **shellukplc@live.com**
Tel: +447035910957

He shall immediately commence the process that will facilitate the release
of your fund to you.

Congratulations!! once again.

Yours in service,
Dr. (Mrs.) Lynda Duke
[Publicity Secretary]*

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam