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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:

• 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.
  • promoclaim_agent@yahoo.co.uk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "Worldwide Lotto Promo" <worldlotto_promo@msn.com>
Date: Thu, 26 Jan 2006 17:49:26 +0000
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS!!!

The National Lottery
P O Box 1010
Liverpool, L70 1NL
UNITED KINGDOM
(Customer Services)

Ref: UK/9420X2/68
Batch: 074/05/ZY369

Website: http://www.lottery.co.uk
Results: http://www.lottery.co.uk/res/Default.asp


Winning Notification
BONUS LOTTERY PROMOTION PRIZE AWARDS WINNING
NOTIFICATION

We happily announce to you the draw (#997) of the UK NATIONAL LOTTERY,
online Sweepstakes International program held on Saturday 21 January
2006.
It is yet to be unclaimed and you are getting the final
NOTIFICATION
as regard this. The result of our computer draw (#978) selected your
Name
and Email address attached to e-ticket number: 6475600545 188 with
Serial
number 5368/02 drew the lucky numbers: 01, 25, 26, 27, 39, 49, 37
(Bonus
Ball)
which subsequently won you the lottery in the 2nd category i.e. match 6
plus bonus. You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of
£500,000(Five hundred thousand pounds sterling) in cash credited to
file
KTU/9023118308/03. This is from a total cash prize shared amongst the
(7)
lucky winners in this category i.e. Match 11 plus bonus. 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 £100,000 (One hundred thousand pounds sterling)
will
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 claim 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:

Contact Name: PETER MIKE (Mr.)
Official Email: promoclaim_agent@yahoo.co.uk
Endeavour to email him with the following information’s (your winning
number and lucky numbers, bonus ball)

Congratulations from me and members of THE NATIONAL LOTTERY.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!
At your disposal, we remain.
Very Truly Yours,
Mrs. MELVIN M
Online coordinator for UK NATIONAL LOTTERY
Sweepstakes International Program.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam