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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery 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:
  • "money laundering" ("anti-terrorist", "anti-money laundering" or "drug-free" certificates are a common way for criminals in fake lottery scams and other Advance Fee scams to get you to send money to them. There are no such certificates in the real banking world. )
  • "deadline" (they are rushing you so you don't have time to think properly)
  • "vat (5%)" (VAT rate in the UK is 17.5%, check the math)
  • "affidavit " (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
  • "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.
  • +447045729759 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: CLAIMS UNIT OFFICE <casinoclaimsunit@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Mon, 3 Sep 2007 03:44:37 +0100 (BST)
Subject: {Disarmed} CLAIMS OPTIONS:Batch: 074/05/ZY369 (CASINO UK NATIONAL LOTTERY)



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

Dear Mady Neu,

Compliments of the day to you the details you provided in your winning claim form which was made available to us has been attached to other document , and other vital important information regarding your claim if there is any change in Address and Name, please inform us asap.

This means that you have been officially cleared for payment by the Verifications Dept. at the headquarters of the CASINO UK National Lottery.

The original copy of your certificate, together with a covering document (Money Laundering protection and Letter of Affidavit for Claims) from the British government stating that the money was obtained legally through their National Lotto along side with your cheque will be sent to you as soon as you meet with the CRITERIA.

You are to choose your delivery option on how you want to recieve your funds from the options provided below and send us your recieving informations.

Option 1: IF YOU PREFER COURIER TRANSFER BY CHEQUE
Courier of your winning draft to you via FEDEX COURIER COMPANY


Mailing..............................................£155.00
Insurance..........................................£196.00
Vat (5%)...........................................£222.75
TOTAL................................................£573.75
TIME OF DELIVERY................................48HOURS.


Option 2:BANK TRANSFER
The said amount claim £500,000 GBP will be wired to your bank account via swift online bank transfer within 12hrs.

Condition: The cost of COT (Commission Of Transfer) being charged by our transferring bank, which is (i.e £1000) of the cash being transferred will be paid by you.

Note that your prize is protected by a hardcover insurance policy, which makes it impossible to deduct any amount from the money before it has been remitted to you.

This means that the above charges cannot be deducted from the prize and hence must be provided by you before your prize is transferred to you.

This is in accordance with section(13)1n of the national gambling act as adopted in 1993 and amended on 3rd july 1996 by the constitutional assembly, this is to protect winners and to avoid misappropration of funds.

Also be reminded that the deadline for the claiming of winnings is exactly one week after the receipt of this email. After this period, your cash prize will be deemed to have been forfeited by you and will be reused in the drawings of the next edition of the lottery.

Please respond to this email by making a selection from the two options above. Also attach a scanned copy of either your driver's licence, international passport (photo page) or any other legally identifying document.

Also be reminded that the deadline for the claiming of winnings is exactly a week after the receipt of this email. After this period, your cash prize will be deemed to have been forfeited by you and will be reused in the drawings of the next edition of the lottery.

Good luck and Congratulations once again do endeavour to get back to us as soon as possible so that we can provide you the payment information.

Please send your response within the next 24hrs to this same email address



Thanks,
Claims Unit,
UK NATIONAL LOTTERY.
Tel: +44 704 572 9759 +44 (0) 702 406 5648.



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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam