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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
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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:

• 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)
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "courier company" (Courier companies mentioned in 419 scams are always fake. They will have you send money to them, but won't deliver anything. )
  • "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. If it's a lottery prize, remember that real lotteries do not pay large prizes by check. They wire the money directly to your bank account and you do not pay for that. Many scammers promise a large check only in order to then demand payment of courier fees for a fake courier service. )
• 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.
  • +447011134211 (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.
  • @yahoo.co.uk

Fraud email example:

From: William Douglas <uknationallotteryagent009@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2007 22:02:58 +0100 (BST)
Subject: CONTACT EXCEL COURIER COMPANY FOR YOUR DELIVERY


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

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





ATTENTION: Winner ,

CONGRATULATIONS!This is to inform you that you have been cleared a winner of the UK NATIONAL LOTTERY online Sweepstakes International program.


PARTICIPANTS : 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 .


I am happy to inform you, your Original Certificate and your Certified bank cheque has been fowarded to the courier company.
Find below the details of the courier company.
EXCEL COURIERS SERVICE
ADDRESS OF HEAD OFFICE:Link House, 1C CHURCH STREET,
WHITCHURCH, HANTS,RG28 7AD ENGLAND.


NAME:MR DAVE MARK dispatch officer)

EMAIL: excelcourierservice_ic @yahoo.co.uk



You are advised to send the courier company a mail to their email address for their courier cost.When contacting them,you are to include this your winning amount as your subject.and your order number which is:71539

Note: you are Quote your complete names,Ref/Batch Numbers,winning amount and your direct phone number so that they can honour your letter.Once again i say congratulations and always inform me with your dealings with the courier company.and send your contact address to the courier company and your Date of birth.


Congratulations once again from all the staff here. Inorder to verify your winnings, we need yourparticulars for record purposes. Attached here is acopy of our verifications form, please fill accordingly so as to proceed with your winnings. Once again congratulations from all the staff.

1. FULL
NAMES:____________________________________________

2. DATE OF
BIRTH:_________________________________________________

3. SEX:___________________________

4. MARITAL
STATUS:_____________________________________

5.CONTACT ADDRESS:____________________________________

6.TELEPHONE
NUMBER:________________________________________

7.OCCUPATION:________________________________________________

8.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF
COMPANY/INDIVIDUAL:_/_________________________________________


Upon receipt of the duly requested datas,i`ll send youthe contact information of the payment office so you can proceed with effecting the release of your claimin anyway you deem fit.

Warm Regards.

you are to fill this form and send tothe courier department

Thanks,
Mr.WILLIAM DOUGLAS
Claims Agent,
UK NATIONAL LOTTO

TEL:+447011134211
TEL:+4447011134207
FAX:+448704711173




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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam