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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:

• 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:
  • "fiduciary agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "million pounds" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
  • ",000,000" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
  • "00,000.00" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
• 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.
  • +447011137068 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: james carter <james_carteronme@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: <james_carter64@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Thu, 1 Nov 2007 18:20:28 -0700
Subject: WINNING NOTIFICATION



UK Lottery Headquarters: Customer Service 28 TANFIELD ROAD, CROYDON.LONDON Ref: BTL/491OXI/04 Batch: 12/25/0304 WINNING NOTIFICATION We happily announce to you the draw 1102 of the UK NATIONAL LOTTERY,online Sweepstakes International program held on November 1st2007. You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of £2,000,000.00 (Two Million Pounds sterling) in cash credited to file KTU/90231108/03 with winning number 06.12.19.20.38.39.13and Coupon Number 5647560054All 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 until the end of the year. please you are advised to contact the agent with your winning numbers, this is part of our precautionary measure to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program. Please be warned. To claim your prize, please write to the UK NATIONAL LOTTERY FIDUCIARY AGENT with your details as stated belowFIDUCIARY AGENTOVER SEAS CLAIM UNITMR.JAMES CARTER EMAIL:james_carter64@yahoo.co.ukTELEPHONE NUMBER:+44 701 1137068 YOUR DETAILS1.Name:2.Address:3.Marital Status:4.Occupation:5.Age:6.Sex:7.Nationality:8.Country Of Residence:9.Telephone Number:10.Fax Number:11.Amountwon:Yours faithfully, Mr. James carterOnline coordinator.
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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam