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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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• 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 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:
  • "fiduciary agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "claims 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!

Fraud email example:

From: (sent from abused email account)
Reply-To: agentlarrywhite07@gmail.com
Date: Mon, 13 Oct 2008 16:19:15 GMT
Subject: WINNING NOTIFICATION LETTER




WINNING NOTIFICATION LETTER
We happily announce That the draw (=23568) of UK Online Lottery Raffle D=
raw
held
=2E Your e-mail
address attached to ticket number=3A 2=2C09=2C14=2C20=2C32=2C02 which su=
bsequently won
you
the Uk National Lottery cash Prizes=2E

You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of =A3590=2C000 in=
cash
credited to file KTU/9023118308/03=2E

To file for your claim=2C please contact our claims agent=3A
Fiduciary Agent=3A Larry White=2C
Email=3A agentlarrywhite08=40gmail=2Ecom

Provide him with the information below=3A
1=2EFull Name=3A
2=2EFull Address=3A
3=2EMarital Status=3A
4=2EOccupation=3A
5=2EAge=3A
6=2ESex=3A
7=2ENationality=3A
8=2ECountry Of Residence=3A
9=2ETelephone Number=3A

Good luck from me and members of UK Online International Lottery
Yours Truly=2C
Mrs=2ELarry White

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam