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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 phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "claims office" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "million pounds" (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)
  • ",500,000" (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: "MasterCard UEFA Champions League Lottery Inc."
<claimsnotice@uefa.com>
Reply-To: mastercaeduefatransferoffice@yahoo.com.hk
Date: Sat, 04 Jul 2009 01:28:59 -0500
Subject: Claims Transfer Department

ATTENTION: Winner

The Local Organising Committee of the MasterCard sponsors and the
European Champions League is glad to announce to the world the giving
away of the sum of THREE HUNDRED MILLION POUNDS to 100 lucky email
addresses all over the world.

This promotion is in Appreciation of our International Support for the
past Football Events and the correspondent earnings at the stock
market which was far beyond our projected quarterly earnings.

Be informed that all winners in this program have been selected
randomly through a computer ballot system drawn from over 1,500,000
companies and individual e-mail addresses database. Your email address
happened to be one of the lucky winners of THREE MILLION POUNDS among
the One Hundred email addressess chosen. In order to claim your prize,
you will have to fill out the form below and send it back to us for
verification and then you will be informed on how to make claims of
your Bankers Check for the sum which has already been deposited along
with your email contact. It is mandatory you take note that your email
address was attached to Serial Number: 889-207 and Batch Number:
EU-155DB11-003/LL.

We use this opportunity to thank all our Sponsors/ Contributors of
this program: MASTERCARD, AIR EMIRATES, ADIDAS, NIKE, MCDONALDS,
UNITED AIRLINES, BMW, VIRGIN ATLANTIC, UMBRO-SPORTLINE, FUJIFILM,
AIR-ASIA, BARCLAYS, VODAFONE, NOKIA N-SERIES, LUCOZADE SPORT, AND A
HOST OF EMAIL SERVICE PROVIDERS FOR ALLOWING THE USE OF THEIR DATABASE
FOR THE DRAWS AND ALSO FOR THE PROVISION OF SECURE (SSL)

EMAIL DELIVERY SYSTEMS.

NAME:..................................................
AGE:.....................................................
SEX:......................................................
ADDRESS:............................................
EMAIL:.................................................
TEL.:.....................................................
FAX:.....................................................
OCCUPATION:........................................
COUNTRY:.............................................

Please you are advised to complete the form and send back to us for
prompt collection. You are automatically disqualified if you are below
17 years of age. This E-mail message (including attachments, if any)is
intended for the use of the individual or entity to which it is
addressed and may contain Information that is privileged, proprietary,
confidential and exempted from disclosure. If you are not the intended
recipient, you are notified that
any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is
strictly prohibited.

Congratulation once again and you are advised to send reply to your
claims officer for you to be accredited for payment:CLAIMS OFFICER:
MR. DOUGLAS WALKER

Sincerely,

Etheridge Knight.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam