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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 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. )
  • "cost of mailing your draft" (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. Never ever send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally. )
  • "fiduciary agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "transfer of your funds" (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)
  • ",500,000" (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)
  • "deadline" (scammers rush victims so they 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 service" (Courier companies mentioned in 419 scams are always fake. They will have you send money to them, but won't deliver anything. )
  • "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!
• Western Union money transfer is completely untraceable and therefore is *not* safe to use with anyone you do not know personally. It is the preferred method of online criminals to collect money from their victims.
• 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.
  • +447011140338 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
  • +447024083694 (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.
  • steph_kabba@yahoo.co.uk
  • courier_express2007@yahoo.co.uk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: BANTI KUMAR <mailbanti_chhoti@yahoo.co.in>
Date: Sat, 3 Nov 2007 08:13:40 +0000 (GMT)
Subject:


1.UK NATIONAL LOTTERY
P O Box 1010
Liverpool, L70 1NL
UNITED KINGDOM
Ref: UK/9420X2/68
Batch: 074/05/ZY369
serial: 7321410
Draw N0:#978
Dear Winner,
This is to inform you that you have been selected for a
cash prize of(1,500,000.00 pounds) held on 10th of October 2007.
The selection process was carried out through random selection
in our computerized email selection system from a database of
over 250,000 email addresses drawn from which you were selected.
To file your claims please contact our claims processing
department for clearance procedures.
REV: STEPHANO KABBA.
Email: steph_kabba@yahoo.co.uk
PHONE:+447011140338
FULLNAME:................
SEX:.....................
AGE......................
NATIONALITY..............
OCCUPATION...............
PHONE....................

Yours faithfully,
Brain hunt
Online coordinator for
UK NATIONAL LOTTERY.
2. UKONLINE NOTIFICATION DESK.
GOVERNMENT ACCREDITED LICENSED!!
UK ONLINE INTERNATIONAL LOTTERY
IS REGISTERED UNDER THE DATA PROTECTION ACT OF;
(Registration Z720633X).


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


ATTENTION: WINNER,

CONGRATULATIONS! This is to inform you that you have been cleared as winner of the UK NATIONAL LOTTERY online Sweepstakes International program. I am happy to inform you that i have forwarded your Original Certificate and your mode of prize collection to the courier company. Find below the details of the courier company.

CONTACT: AIR FREIGHT COURIER SERVICE
HEAD OFFICE: AIR FREIGHT COURIER SERVICE
BR 30-36 NEW PORT,CARDIFF
BR CF24 ODE,
BR UNITED KINGDOM

NAME: MR. FRED SMITH (dispatch officer)
EMAIL:courier_express2007@yahoo.co.uk
PHONE: +447024083694

You are advised to send the courier company a mail through their email address for their courier cost. When contacting them, you are to include this order number as your subject. Please you are advised to write down the order number and save it.
ORDER NUMBER:657252
DRAW NO:#978
FULL NAMES_______________________
FULL CONTACT ADDRESS___________________________________
ZIP CODE____________________________
SEX______________
DATE OF BIRTH ________________________
POSTAL CODE ____________________________
COMPANY NAME _____________________________
TEL______________________
FAX ____________________
COUNTRY ______________________
INDICATE PREFERRED MODE OF PRIZE COLLECTION:
(A) CHEQUE
(B) DRAFT
(Details of the account where you want your funds
transferred):
________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
Note: You are to quote your complete names, Ref/Batch numbers and your direct phone number so that they can honour your letter. Once again i say congratulations and always inform me of your dealings with the courier company.
Thanks,

Rev Stepano Kabba.
(your fiduciary agent)
3.AIR FRIEGHT COURIER AGENT
(REG NO: 194562)


REG ORDER NO:657252

ATTENTION: CLIENT,
This is to inform you that you have been officially cleared for payment by the verifications Dept. at the headquarters of the Uk Lottery International. The original copy of this certificate, together with a covering document (Money Laundering protection and Letter of Affidavit forClaims) from the British government stating that the money was obtained legally through their National Lotto will be sent to you and the bank as soon as you meet with any of the option selected and your winnings will be couriered or transferred to you immediately. You can now begin the final step of the claims process, which is the transferring of your cash prize to you. With regards to this, there are two options open to you, you are required to select the most convenient of the two.
The options, together with their associated conditions are presented below:
Option 1: COURIER DELIVERY
Courier of your winning details to you via any of this channel listed below:

(2working days)
Mailing £275.00 00.00
Insurance £240.00 00.00
Vat (5%) £276.75 00.00
TOTAL £791.75 00.00


(3 working days)
Mailing &n bsp £290.00 00.00
Insurance £100.00 00.00
Vat (5%) £199.95 00.00
TOTAL £600.95 00.00

(7working days) Mailing £278.00 00.00
Insurance £180.00 00.00
Vat (5%) £135.45 00.00
TOTAL £583.45 00.00
Forward the cost of mailing your draft/cheque with
any of the courier channel cost you choose above to us.

Option 2: BANK TRANSFER CHARGES
The said amount claim 1.500,000.00 pounds (One Million, Five Hundred Thousand pounds) will be wired to your bank account via swift bank transfer.Condition: The cost of COT (commission of transfer) being charged by our transferring bank is(i.e £1,500GBP) of the cash being transferred will be paid by you.Note: That your prize is protected by a 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 first before your prize is transferred to you.

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

BEST REGARDS,

MR FRED SMITH
(dispatch officer)
4.ATTN:CLIENT,

YOU ARE BY THIS MAIL DIRECTED TO PAY YOUR COT{COMISSION ON TRANSFER } CHARGES OF 1,500.00 POUNDS IMMEDIATELY VIA WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER TO OUR ACCOUNT OFFICER AS STATED BELOW:

NAME OF RECEIVER: CLEMENT NOVETTE
ADDRESS OF RECEIVER: AIRFREIGHT COURIER SERVICES, LONDON, UK.

PAYMENT OF COT (1,500.00 POUNDS) MUST BE MADE BEFORE TRANSFER OF FUNDS TO YOUR NOMINATED ACCOUNT IS DONE, BECAUSE YOUR FUND IS PROTECTED BY AN INSURANCE POLICY WHICH MAKES DEDUCTION OF ANY FEE IMPOSSIBLE.

ONCE PAYMENT OF YOUR COT (I,500.00 POUNDS) IS MADE BY YOU, SCAN A COPY OF THE WESTERN UNION SLIP TO MY EMAIL ID ALONGSIDE THE INFORMATION STATED BELOW:

Name of sender..............
first Name..................
Last Name.......................
Address .......................
MTCN Number....................

ONCE OUR ACCOUNTS DEPARTMENT CONFIRMED YOUR COT PAYMENT, WE WOULD FORWARD YOUR ACCOUNT DETAILS TO THE BANK FOR IMMEDIATE WIRE TRANSFER OF YOUR FUNDS TO YOUR NOMINATED ACCOUNT IN YOUR COUNTRY.

THANKS,
FRED SMITH
-------------------------------------------------
dear sir,these are the emails that i have got from a lottery company named"UK NATIONAL LOTTERY AND AIR FREIGHT COURIER SERVICES"UK, LONDON.I JUST WANTED TO KNOW THAT THESE ARE TRUE EMAILS OR SOMEONE FRAUD IS SENDING THE EMAIL.KINDLY PROVIDE ME THE INFORMATION ABOUT THESE EMAILS AS SOON AS YOU GATHER INFORMATION ABOUT THESE EMAILS.
YOURS FAITHFULLY
PRAVIN KUMAR


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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam