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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:
  • "from: the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • "fiduciary agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • ",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)
  • ",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)
• 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 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.
  • officeclaimsdept@aol.com

Fraud email example:

From: INTERNATIONAL PROMOTION/PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT <europwlottery9@aol.com>
Date: Wed, 12 Dec 2007 16:00:11 -0800
Subject: FROM: THE DESK OF THE PROMOTIONS MANAGER


NATIONAL LOTTERY
Support Centre
Bevan House
51 Bevan Avenue
London, United Kingdom
FROM: THE DESK OF THE PROMOTIONS MANAGER,
INTERNATIONAL PROMOTION/PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT
REF: UNL/26510460037/02
BATCH: 24/00319/IPD
ATTENTION: Sir/Madam,
RE/AWARD NOTIFICATION; FINAL NOTICE
We happily announce to you the draw (#1176) of the UK NATIONAL LOTTERY,
online Sweepstakes International program held 28th November 2007.
Your e-mail address attached to ticket number: 023-0148-790-459 with
Serial number 5073-11 drew the lucky numbers:
03 35 39 42 44 48
bonus ball 41
which subsequently won you the lottery in the 1st category i.e match 6.
You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of =A32,500,000
(two million five hundred thousand,pounds sterling) in cash credited to
file REF NO. UNL/26510460037/02.
This is from a total cash prize of =A35,000,000 shared amongst the first
two (2) lucky winners in this category. Draw 1176 Sat 31st Mar 07.
Jackpot =A35,000,000.
NUMBER OF MATCHES No OF WINNERS =A3s PER WINNER TOTAL
Match 6 2 =A32,767,607 =A35,535,214
Match 5 plus bonus 7 =A3243,306 =A31,703,142
Match 5 381 =A32,793 =A31,064,133
Match 4 26475 =A388 =A32,329,800
Match 3 561913 =A310 =A35,619,130
Additional Information Jackpot winner(s) 2 Machine used for draw
MOONSTONE Winners by Lucky Dip 216277 Ball set used 7. 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.
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 =A32,500,000 (two million five hundred
thousand,pounds sterling), 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.
For security reasons, you are advised to keep your winning information
confidential till your claim 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.
To file for your claim, please contact our fiduciary agent in Paris France;
Dr.Joe Davis
Email:officeclaimsdept@aol.com

For due processing and remittance of your prize money, please remember
to quote your reference and batch numbers in every one of your
correspondences with your agent. Remember, all prize money must be claimed =
not
later than 2weeks. After this date, all funds will be returned as
unclaimed.
Furthermore, should there be any change of your address, do inform your
claims agent as soon as possible.
Congratulations again from all our staff and thank you for being part
of our promotional lottery program.
Sincerely,
Mary Anderson
Zonal Co-ordinator
Copyright =A9 1994-2006 The British National Lottery Inc
Copyright =A9 1994-2006 The Uknational Lottery Inc.
All rights reserved. Terms of Service - Guideline

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam