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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:
  • "claim agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "cheque " (Beware of any scheme that involves cashing checks or money orders and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere - you'll be liable for the entire amount if the checks or money orders turn out to be fake, even after you have received and forwarded cash)
• 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 mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
  • +447024092158 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
• 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.
  • claims_lottery_06@yahoo.co.uk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "Lottery Winner" <richard_lloyd72_2006@hotmail.com>
Date: Fri, 17 Nov 2006 02:27:40 +0000
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS!!! YOU'VE WON £500,000 POUNDS STERLING...

The National Lottery

P. O. Box 1010

Liverpool, L70 1NL

UNITED KINGDOM

(Customer Services)

Ref: UK/9420X2/68

Batch: 074/05/ZY369

    W I N N I N G   N O T I F I C A T I O N

We happily announce to you the draw (#531) of the

THUNDERBALL WINNING underthe UK NATIONAL LOTTERY,

online Sweepstakes International program held on

Saturday, 28th of October, 2006.Your e-mail address

attached to ticket number:56475600545 188 with

serial number 5368/02 drew the lucky numbers: 23

45 34 45 46 33

which subsequently won you the lottery of the Jackpot

Prize. You have therefore been approved to claim a

total sum of £500,000.00 (Five Hundred Thousand

Pounds Sterling) in cash credited to file KTU/902311

8308/03. 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 on-line. 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 £500,000.00 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.

To file for your claim, please contact our Claims

Agent:

Name: Mr. William Wood

Email: claims_lottery_06@yahoo.co.uk

Tel: +44-702 409 2158

     +44-702 409 2970

     +44-702 402 3734

Provide him with the information below:

1. NAME:

2. ADDRESS:

3. OCCUPATION:

4. AGE:

5. SEX:

6. NATIONALITY:

7. COUNTRY OF RESIDENCE:

8. TELEPHONE NUMBER:

9. EMAIL ADDRESS:

10. DRAW NUMBER ABOVE: 531

  That way your Winnings Certificate and all other

relevant documents/paperwork can be prepared for you.

You would be required to show an instrument of

identification when cashing your cheque i.e. Drivers

License or International Passport.

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.

Goodluck from me and members of staff of the UK

NATIONAL LOTTERY.

Yours faithfully,

Richard K. Lloyd

Online Co-ordinator for UK NATIONAL

LOTTERY sweepstakes InternationalProgram...

N.B: Any breach of confidentiality on the part of

the winners will result to disqualification.

Remember, you must contact your claim agent not

later than 72 hrs upon receipt of this information

to file for your claims after this date, all funds

will be returned as unclaimed.

CONTACT YOUR CLAIMS AGENT!!!

copyright 1995-2006 The UK National Lottery Inc.

All rights reserved. Terms of Service - Guidelines...

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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam