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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:
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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 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:
  • "million pounds" (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)
  • ",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)
  • "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)
  • "u.k " (this email uses bad English)
• 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.
  • +447024096270 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
  • +447024028482 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
  • +447075767527 (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.
  • van_williams1943@yahoo.com.hk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "UK NATIONAL LOTTERY" <info.uk@yahoo.co.uk>
Reply-To: van_williams1943@yahoo.com.hk
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2008 02:31:30 +0530 (IST)
Subject: CONFIRM YOUR WINNING PRIZE Ref: XYL /26510460037/05

The National Lottery
PO Box 1010
Liverpool L70 1NL, United Kingdom.
Ref: XYL /26510460037/05
Batch: 24/00319/IPD

WINNING NOTIFICATION

We happily announce to you the draw (#1071) winner of the UK NATIONAL
LOTTERY cash prize of £1,000,000.00GBP (One Million Pounds Sterlings) held
on 18th August 2008 in London Uk.The selection process was carried out
through random selection in our computerized email selection system(ess)
from a database of over 250,000 email addresses drawn from which you were
selected.

The BRITISH UK. Lottery is approved by the British Gaming Board.To begin
the processing of your prize you are to contact our fiduaciaryclaims
department for more infomation as regards procedures to claim your prize.

Agents Name: Van Williams
Email: van_williams1943@yahoo.com.hk
Tel: +447024096270
+ 44 702 402 8482
Fax: + 44 7075767527

1.Name..........................
2.Address.......................
3.Nationality...................
4.Age...........................
5.Sex...........................
6.Occupation....................
7.Phone/Fax.....................
8.cOUNTRY.....................

Cordially,
Rose Wood
Online Co-ordinator
U.K NATIONAL LOTTERY
Sweepstakes International Program

-- Sent at 01:36:37 on 08/19/08 through NITK (http://www.nitk.ac.in/) Email Gateway . AV scanning & Spam checking are done on this mail --

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam