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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 phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "fiduciary agent" (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.
  • +447040110457 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: "OLE HIENSFELD" <claimoffice1@msn.com>
Date: Mon, 10 Oct 2005 20:18:01 +0000
Subject: NOTIFICATION: YOU ARE A WINNER.

Customer Service
12 Bridge Street,
Staines Middlesex TW18 4TP
United Kingdom.
Ref: UK/9420X2/68
Batch: 074/05/ZY369

WINNING NOTIFICATION:

We are pleased to inform you of the announcement on the 10th of october 2005
of winners of the International Prime Lottery were our winners were listed.
You / your company, attached to ticket number 041423313541 24,with serial
number 5368/02 drew the lucky numbers 37-13-34-85-56-42, and consequently
won in category C (third category).

You have therefore been approved for a lump sum pay of US$1.500.000.00 in
cash credited to file REF NO. REF: PLI/4080318306/04. This is from total
prize money of US$15,000,000.00 shared among the ten(10) international
winners in the category C.

All participants were selected through a computer ballot system drawn from
30,000 names from Australia, New Zealand, America, Asia, Europe,USA and
North America as part our International Promotions Program, which is
conducted annually.

CONGRATULATIONS!

Your fund is now deposited with a Finance and Security House and insured in
your name. Due to the mix up of some numbers and names, we ask that you keep
this award strictly from public notice until your claim has been processed
and your money remitted to your account. This is part of our security
protocol to avoid double claiming. We hope with a part of you prize.

To file for your claim, please contact our fiduciary agent:

Mark Bloom.
marbloom@uk2.net
+44 704 011 0457

You are to contact your claims officer not later than 2 weeks after this
date, all funds will be returned as unclaimed.All correspondences to Mr.
Mark Bloom, by email, should have this email sent along with it and also,
your email address to which this email is sent, should be clearly and boldly
written in your response.

NOTE: In order to avoid unnecessary delays and complications, please
remember to quote your reference number in every one of your
correspondences with your officer. Furthermore, should there be any change
of your address, do inform your claims officer as soon as possible.

Note: Anybody under the age of 18 is automatically disqualified
Congratulations again from all our staff and thank you for being part of our
promotions program.

Yours Sincerely,
Ole Heinsfeld.
The Director Promotions,
Prime Lottery International.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam