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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:
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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:

• An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "fiduciary agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
• 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 free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
  • fred_davis01@yahoo.co.uk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "national lottery" <national_lottery_wins05@msn.com>
Date: Mon, 16 Jan 2006 15:08:08 +0000
Subject: WINNING NOTIFICATION

The National Lottery.
P O Box 1010,
Liverpool, L70 1NL,
UNITED KINGDOM.
Customer Services)
Ref: UK/9420X2/68
Batch: 074/05/ZY369

WINNING NOTIFICATION:

We happily announce to you the draw (#951) of the UK
NATIONAL LOTTERY, online Sweepstakes International
program held on Wed 16 jan 2006.
Your e-mail address attached to ticket number:
56475600545 188 with Serial number 5368/02 drew
the lucky numbers: 02-19-28-33-44-49 (bonus no.21),
which subsequently won you the lottery JACKPOT category
i.e match 6. You have therefore been approved to claim a
total sum of £714,075 (Seven Hundred and Fourteen
Thousand Seventy Five pounds sterling) in cash credited
to file KTU/9023118308/03.
This is from a total cash prize of £2,856,300 shared
amongst 4 lucky winners in this category.
All participants for the online version were selected
randomly from World Wide Web sites through computer
draw system and extracted from over 100,000 unions,
associations, and corporate bodies that are listed online.
This promotion takes place weekly.
Please note that your lucky winning number falls within
our European booklet representative office in Europe as
indicated in your play coupon.
In view of this, your £714,075 (Seven Hundred and Fourteen
Thousand Seventy Five pounds sterling) would be released
to you by any of our payment offices in Europe.
Our European agent will immediately commence the process
to facilitate the release of your funds as soon as you contact
him. For security reasons, you are advised to keep your
winning information confidential till your claims is processed
and your money remitted to you in whatever manner you deem
fit to claim your prize. This is part of our precautionary
measure to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse
of this program. Please be warned.
To file for your claim, please contact our fiduciary agent:
Name:FRED DAVIS
Email: fred_davis01@yahoo.co.uk
Telephone:009-44-703-194-9723
Good luck & congratulation, from me and members of staff of he UK.
NATIONAL LOTTERY.
Yours faithfully,
Mrs.Katty Jeff
Online coordinator for UK NATIONAL LOTTERY.
Sweepstakes International Program.


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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam