419 Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam (2006-01)

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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

The so-called "419" scam is a type of fraud dominated by criminals from Nigeria and other countries in Africa. Victims of the scam are promised a large amount of money, such as a lottery prize, inheritance, money sitting in some bank account, etc.

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.

Keep in mind that scammers DO NOT use their real names when defrauding people.
The criminals either abuse names of real people or companies or invent names or addresses.
Any real people or companies mentioned below have NO CONNECTION to the scammers!

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:

This email uses a separate reply address that is different from the sender address. Spammers use this to get replies even when the original spam sending accounts have been shut down. Also, sometimes the sender addresses are legitimate looking but fake and only the reply address is actually an email account controlled by the scammers.
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)
- "uk national lottery inc." (no such lottery exists)
The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "claims office" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "derick.shack@comcast.net" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
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: UK National Lottery <winners@lottery.org>
Reply-To: derick.shack@comcast.net
Date: Fri, 08 Apr 2011 18:59:22 -0400
Subject: Congratulations...You Have Won =?iso-8859-1?b?ozg2MCwwMDAuMDA=?=
**

This electronic mail is to inform you that you have won the sum of £860,000.00
GBP [EIGHT HUNDRED AND SIXTY THOUSAND POUNDS STERLING] in the just
concluded UK
National Lottery Official On-Line Draw held in London.

The result of our computer draw (#078) selected your email address
attached to:

E -ticket Number: 50075611546 109
Serial Number : 4008/132
Batch Number: 074/05/ZY369
Reference Number: UK/9420X/68

Which subsequently won you the lottery as the 2nd prize winner in the 2nd
category i.e. match 5 plus bonus.

You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of £860,000.00
GBP [EIGHT
HUNDRED AND SIXTY THOUSAND POUNDS STERLING] in cash credited to file
KTU/0023118308/08.

Participants were selected through a computer e-mail ballot system
drawn from a
pool of over 25,000 names of distinguished professionals drawn from Europe,
America, Asia, Australia, Middle-East and parts of Africa as part of our
international promotions program conducted annually to encourage prospective
overseas entries.

Contact your claims officer below to process/forward your prize to you.
***************************************
Name: Mr. Derick Shack
Contact E-mail: derick.shack@comcast.net
***************************************

Please provide him with the below information for verification:

E -ticket Number: 50075611546 109
==========================
Full Names:
Address:
Date of Birth:
Telephone/Fax number:
Nationality:
Marital Status:
Age:
Occupation:

Note that, all claims process and clearance procedures must be kept
confidential
until your winning funds is transferred to you and duly completed
early to avoid
impersonation or double claiming.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!
Very Truly Yours,

Mrs. Claudia Hernandez,
Online Co-ordinator,
UK NATIONAL LOTTERY INC.
Copyright © 2011 UK National Lottery Award.

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Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam