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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 fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
  • "irish lottery" (can only win this lottery if you bought a ticket)
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "fudiciary" (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!

Fraud email example:

From: "Warren, Rachel S" <RWARREN12@volstate.edu>
Date: Tue, 21 Oct 2008 08:49:27 -0500
Subject: SUCCESS ALERT !!![Scanned]


The Irish Lottery
11 G Lower Dorset Street
Northern Ireland.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

You have won £800,000.00 in the Irish Lottery Online Sweepstakes.

Your winning Numbers are;
Winning Num: 07, 08, 09, 18, 21, 27, Bonus 19
Batch Num: Batch: R3/A312-59
Reference Num: Ref: LSUK/2031/8161/05

You are to contact the fudiciary agent
with the information below
as soon as you receive this
notification.

Mr. Defoe Smith (Fudiciary Agent)
Email:claimdepts@live.com


For verification please provide your:

1. Full Names
2. Address (Country)
3. Age
4. Occupation
5. Telephone

and your above Batch and reference Number when responding.

Thank you and congratulations.

Thomas Stinson, Online Coordinator
Fudiciary & Notification Department
Lottery Commission of Ireland.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam