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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:
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• Support our efforts to stop scams!
  
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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)
  • "uk national lottery inc." (no such lottery exists)
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "from: the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • "claims office" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
• 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.
  • +447011150809 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
  • +448704793818 (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.
  • lottery.powerball@yahoo.co.uk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "Powerball Lottery" <mary.davies01@googlemail.com>
Date: Thu, 6 Mar 2008 22:35:00 +0100
Subject: REF NO: MELI-T/17-F044262312


FROM: THE DESK OF THE DIRECTOR PROMOTIONS,
INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS/PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT,
REF NO: MELI-T/17-F044262312

Dear Winner,

We are pleased to announce to you as one of the 12 lucky winners in the
POWERBALL LOTTERY PROMOTIONS held on 6th of March, 2008. All 12 winning
addresses were randomly selected from a batch of 40,000 international
emails. Your email address emerged alongside 11 others as a 3rd category
winner in this month's draw. Consequently, you have therefore been approved
for a total pay out of £ 520,000Pounds ( Five Hundred and Twenty Thousand
pounds) only.

The following particulars are attached to your lottery payment order:
(i) Winning numbers: 990-11-815-37-10-83
(ii) Email ticket number: 901-0148-790-691
(iii) Lotto Batch No. 13/FFP/LDL/037
(IV) File REF NO: MELI-T/17-F044262312

Please contact the under listed claims officer as soon as possible for the
immediate release of your winnings with the following details:

1. Full Name
2. Phone and Fax Number
3. Sex
4. Nationality
5. Present Location

CONTACT AGENCY:
MR. RICHARD KEN AND ASSOCIATE LTD U.K,
32 Lausanne Road London,
SW2 3JB ENGLAND.U.K
Email: lottery.powerball@yahoo.co.uk
Tel: +44-701-115-0809
Fax: +44-870-479-3818

Please indicate "X" for the option you want your prize remitted to you.
Listed are the options of receiving prize payment.

(1) BY COURIER DELIVERY OF YOUR PRIZE:
...................................................... [.....]

(2) BANK PAYMENT TRANSFER|TELEGRAPHIC TRANSFER|SWIFT TRANSFER|ONLINE ACCOUNT
TRANSFER........ [.....]


Sincerely,
Mrs. Mary Davies
LOTTERY COORDINATOR,
INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS.
PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT, UK.

Congratulations from me and members of staff of POWERBALL UNIVERSAL PROMOS.

DENIAL OF APPLICATION:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please be informed that the following listed Country have been banned from
participating in the lottery. Vietnam, Iraq, Nigeria, Venezuela and North
Korea if you are a resident of the listed country you cannot file claims for
this lottery prize. Please delete this Notification as your prize processing
will be annulled without notice.

Copyright (c) 2007/2008 The UK National Lottery Inc.
All rights reserved. Terms of Service - Guideline

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam