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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:

• 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:
  • "claim agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "foreign service manager" (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)
  • "deadline" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
• 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.
  • +447045767044 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: "UK NATIONAL LOTTERY" <bill@sierrawestlighting.com>
Reply-To: dowardgeorge@live.com
Date: Sun, 23 Nov 2008 23:43:40 +0000
Subject: Attention: UK NATIONAL LOTTERY WINNER!!!


THE UK NATIONAL LOTTERY
P O Box 1010
Liverpool, L70 1NL
UNITED KINGDOM
(Customer Services)
REF.NO:UK/9420X2/68/305
BATCH.NO.2008-2GBP-020
CATEGORY:3RD
LUCKY NO:12-26-34-39-40-45 [19] Bonus Ball
AMOUNT WON: £2,000,000.00 British Pounds Sterling.
ATTENTION: DEAR WINNER,
AWARD NOTIFICATION FINAL NOTICE.
We are pleased to inform you of the announcement of winners of the UK NATIONAL LOTTERY,UNITED KINGDOM.(sweepstakes/award promotion)Your email address,is attached to ticket number 20511465463-7644,with serial number S/N-00168 drew the lucky numbers
12-26-34-39-40-45 [19] Bonus Ball,and consequently won the lottery in the
3rd category.
You have therefore been approved for a lump sum payout of £2,000,000.00 British Pounds Sterling in cash credited to file REF No:UKNL-L/200-26937.
This is from total prize money of £40,000,000.00 British Pounds Sterling shared among the twenty international winners in this category. All participants were selected through a computer ballot system drawn from a collation of frequent internet users from all over the world from Australia, New Zealand,America,Europe, North America, Africa and Asia as part of International Promotions Program.
CONGRATULATIONS.
Your fund is now deposited with a Bank.Due to the mix up of some numbers and names,we ask that you keep this award strictly from public notice until your claim has been processed and your money remitted to you.This is part of our security protocol to avoid double claiming or unscrupulous acts by participants of this program. We hope that with a part of your prize,you will participate in next year high stakes of the £80million
International E-mail Lottery
To begin your claim, Contact your claim agent;
MR. GEORGE DOWARD,
Email: dowardgeorge@live.com
Tel:+447045767044
FOREIGN SERVICE MANAGER / CLAIM OFFICER,
UK NATIONAL LOTTERY
COVENTRY, UNITED KINGDOM,
we ask that you keep this award strictly from public notice until your claim has been processed and your money remitted
to your account.
NOTE:That claiming of your funds must be completed before deadline(30th November 2008) , further delay might attract additional expenses in the
processing of your claims.
Furthermore In order to avoid unnecessary delays and complications, please remember to quote your reference and batch numbers in every one of your correspondences with your agent.
Finally, Original copy of your prize winning certificate will be sent to you after claim declaration.Congratulations again from all our staff and thank you for being part of our promotions program.
Please do provide the following information's (Claim Verification form)fill and submit back via EMAIL to (dowardgeorge@live.com ) to your claim agent ,

1,YOUR FULL NAME:.............
2,YOUR SEX:..................
3,YOUR ADDRESS:.................
4,YOUR TELEPHONE NUMBER:.........
5,YOUR FAX NUMBER:...............
6,YOUR OCCUPATION:...............
7,YOUR COMPANY'S NAME:...........
8,YOUR AGE:.......................
9,YOUR REF:..........
10,COUNTRY........................
11,E-MAIL.........................

INDICATE PREFERRED MODE OF PRIZE COLLECTION:
(A)ON-LINE WIRE TRANSFER to your designated Bank account.
(B) CERTIFIED BANK CHEQUE.

Congratulations from the staff and thank you for being part
of email account users program.

Yours Sincerely,

MRS. KIMBERLY BERRY,
VICE PRESIDENT
N.B. Any breach of confidentiality on the part of the winners will result
to disqualification.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam