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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!
  
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• 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 fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
  • "uk national lottery" (can only win this lottery if you bought a ticket)
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • ",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)
• 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.
  • +447035907238 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: "UK NATIONAL LOTTERY BOARD" <officedesk@tulsaemail.com>
Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2008 23:27:01 +0100
Subject: Dear Selected Winner(CONTACT Mr James Smith VIA EMAIL uknlfoundation_live@live.com)


Ref: UK/8421X2/65
Batch: 076/05/ZY523

Dear Winner,

FINAL NOTIFICATION

We are pleased to inform you today that the lottery held Wednesday 9th July
2008. The result of the Winner of the UK NATIONAL LOTTERY ONLINE PROMO
PROGRAMME, lucky numbers: (16 ) (27) (28) (29 ) (30) (42)bonus no:(43),
Visit the Online :Website for your Result http://www.lottery.co.uk/res/

All participants for the online version were selected randomly from World
Wide Web sites through computer draw system and extracted from over 100,000
unions, associations, and corporate bodies that are listed online. This
promotion takes place weekly.You have therefore been approved to claim a
total sum of £1,500,000(One Million five hundred pounds sterling) in cash
credited to file KTU/9023118308/03. To file for your claim, please contact
our claims agent;

Mr James Smith
Email: uknlfoundation_live@live.com
Provide him with the informations below:Name/Age/Country/Mobile Telephone
Number/Occupation and Sex.
Telephone: +44-703-5907238

Good luck from me and members of staff of the UK NATIONAL LOTTERY.

Yours faithfully,

Richard K. Lloyd
Online coordinator for UK NATIONAL
LOTTERY,
Sweepstakes International Program.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam