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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 phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "fiduciary agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "cheque " (Beware of any scheme that involves cashing checks or money orders and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere - you'll be liable for the entire amount if the checks or money orders turn out to be fake, even after you have received and forwarded cash. If it's a lottery prize, remember that real lotteries do not pay large prizes by check. They wire the money directly to your bank account and you do not pay for that. Many scammers promise a large check only in order to then demand payment of courier fees for a fake courier service. )
  • "cheques " (Beware of any scheme that involves cashing checks or money orders and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere - you'll be liable for the entire amount if the checks or money orders turn out to be fake, even after you have received and forwarded cash. If it's a lottery prize, remember that real lotteries do not pay large prizes by check. They wire the money directly to your bank account and you do not pay for that. Many scammers promise a large check only in order to then demand payment of courier fees for a fake courier service. )
• 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.
  • +447045770861 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
  • +447006065059 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: Richard Dawson <richard.dawson07@hotmail.com>
Date: Tue, 20 Jan 2009 16:38:44 +0000
Subject: Contact Delivery Department With Your {Package Registration Number
AMX-INTD-0292}





The National LotteryRaffle Number: 56475600545 188Batch Number: 074/05/ZY369REFERENCE NUMBER: AMX/SA/REG/23/34/25Package Registration Number: AMX-INTD-0292.
Phone:+447045770861.
Dear:V.A. van der Oord,

The Board of Directors, Members of Staff and the International Awareness Promotion Department of the UKNL Online Sweepstakes Programme, wishes to congratulate you as one of our Winner in this year UKNL Online Sweepstakes Promotion held in England. You already know your email address was randomly selected along with others from over 125,000 website on the internet. Each email address was attached to a ticket number, and your e-mail address subsequently won. This makes you a proud winner of the Sum of 750,000.00 GBP (Seven hundred and fifty thousand pounds sterling's ). The Winning Cheque comes with your UK lottery T-shirt and your Winning Certificate with other backup documents. In reference to the above, we would recommend our affiliate courier which is the only trusted courier presently capable of handling such a vital package as yours,as they have been under a contract with us for quite a long time now to deliver cheques of huge sums from our sponsors to us and our winners. On that note we would require you to contact the courier and arrange them to pick up your Winning Items (i.e Cheque, Winning Certificate with other backup documents)from our office to be delivered to you, be aware that the Uk National office will only dispatch your Cheque and other Items to them and won't be responsible for any delivery charges incurred. After pick up they would send you the delivery arrangement of your Winning Package which you will use to know when your Items would be arriving your Location. You can reach the courier through their details below; CONTACT DETAILS:
Aramex (UK) International Courier LtdSenior Delivery Officer: Mr. Desmond Caldwell
Email:enquiries@aramexcourieruk.com Telephone Number:+447031960952
+447031957557
Fax Number: +447006065059
We advise that you give them the following informantion For Identification:

Full Name:
Address:..
Phone Number:
Package Registration Number:

You are also expected to follow instructions to enhance your Parcel to be delivered to you in a timely manner as you have an Urgent Parcel which must be delivered before Liquidation Period.
Do not hesitate to contact us for more information. Kindly contact us the moment you receive your cheque.Thanks for being part of our lottery. Regards
Fiduciary Agent
Mr. Richard Dawson
_________________________________________________________________
Cut through the jargon: find a PC for your needs.
http://clk.atdmt.com/UKM/go/130777504/direct/01/

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam