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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 phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "fiduciary agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • ",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)
• 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: "THE E-LOTTERY COMPANY." <elott@live.co.uk>
Date: Wed, 20 May 2009 14:43:08 +0200
Subject: Ref Number: L/07/736207147/UK



--
THE E-LOTTERY COMPANY.
7 West End Avenue, Gatley,
Cheadle, Cheshire, SK8 4DR, UK.

We happily announce to you the Draw (06/1099) of the E-Lottery online email
promotion program held on April, 2009. All 10 winning e-mail
addresses were randomly selected from a batch of 50,000,000 international
emails. Your emails address emerged alongside 9 others as a category 2
winner
in this year\'s Annual E-Lottery Draw. Consequently, you have therefore been
approved for a total pay out of £546,480.00 (Five Hundred And Forty-Six
Thousand, Four Hundred & Eighty British Pounds Sterling only). The following
particulars are attached to your lotto payment order:

(i) Winning Numbers: 05 18 26 34 42 49 BB 08 (ii) Email ticket
number;FL754/22/76 (iii) Lotto Code Number: FL09622UK (iv) Ref Number:
L/07/736207147/UK Above all, you are required to fill out the Claims
Verification form below and send it to the Fiduciary Agent
1.Name............................2.Address..........................
3.Age...............................4.Sex................................
5.Occupation....................6.Country Of Resident.......
7.Nationality......................8.Tel/Fax...........................
Please contact the Fiduciary Agent as soon as possible for the immediate
release of your winnings:
FIDUCIARY AGENT: Mr. San Bernardino
EMAIL: sanbernardino@live.co.uk
elott@live.co.uk
N.B: Winnings not acknowledged and claimed within one week of notification
will be void.
Regards,
Lopez-Schindler, Lenaa
Promotion Manager,
The E-Lottery Company.
UK & Europe.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam