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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
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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:
  • "please endeavor to " (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • "fiduciary agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "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)
• 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 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.
  • robencole@hotmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "Lee, Wendy" <wlee@moc.edu>
Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2008 20:18:02 -0400
Subject: =?iso-8859-1?Q?Congratulation_You_Have_Won_=A3500=2C000=2E00?=

11 G Lower Dorset Street
Dublin 1
Uk

Result: http://www.uklotto.net/

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

We are pleased to announce to you the draw of the UK LOTTERY PROGRAMMER
online Sweepstakes International Program held on the 21th OF August, 2008.
Your e-mail address attached to ticket number: 56475600545 188 with
Serial number: 5368/05 drew the lucky number: 01, 08, 16, 24, 25, 44, Bonus
10 which subsequently won the LOTTO PLUS 1 prize.

You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of £500,000.00 GBP
(Five hundred thousand Pounds) in cash credited to file Ref: UK/9420X2/68
of Uk Lottery.

All participants for the online version were selected randomly from the
World Wide Web through a computer draw system and extracted from over
100,000 unions, associations, and corporate bodies that are listed
online.This promotion takes place weekly.

Please note that your lucky winning number falls within our European booklet
representative office in the United Kingdom as indicated in your play
coupon. In view of this, your £500,000.00 GBP , would be released to you by
any of our payment offices in the United Kingdom.

To file for your claim, please contact our fiduciary agent:

NAME: Mr.Roben Cole
E-mail:robencole@hotmail.com



For verification please provide your:

1.Full Names
2.Full Address
3.Telephone Number
4.Occupation
5.Age
6.Sex

That way your Winnings Certificate and all other relevant
documents/paperwork can be prepared for you. Note that all prize funds must
be claimed not later than One month. After this date all funds will be
returned to the LOTTERY TREASURY as unclaimed. In order to avoid unnecessary
delays and complications, please endeavor to quote your Ref: UK/9420X2/68
and Batch: 074/05/ZY369 in every
correspondence with your agent. Furthermore, should there be any change in
your address, do inform your claims agent as soon as possible.

For security reasons, you are advised to keep your winning information
confidential till your claims is processed and your money remitted to you in
whatever manner you deem fit to claim your prize. This is part of our
precautionary measure to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this
program. Please be warned.
Good luck from me and members of staff of the UK LOTTERY.

Yours faithfully,
Thomas Stinson(MR).
Online Co-coordinator for UK LOTTERY SWEEPSTAKES PROGRAMMER

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam