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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
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• Company names mentioned in 419 spam:
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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 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.
  • jeffersonwilliam@excite.com

Fraud email example:

From: National Lottery <peterrichardson5@excite.com>
Date: Tue, 11 Oct 2005 03:29:41 -0700
Subject: Congratulations!!!


NATIONAL LOTTERY HEADQUARTERS
Customer Service
#7 Portland Avenue,
PE1 3JZ, Peterborough
United Kingdom
Batch: 074/05/ZY369
Reference No: UK/9420X/68

WINNING NOTIFICATION

We happily announce to you the draw of the National lottery program held on the 17th of September 2005 in Liverpool. Your e-mail address attached to ticket number: 56475600545 188 with Serial number 5368/02 drew the lucky numbers: 01-6-2-13-35-17,which subsequently won you the lottery in the 2nd category. You are therefore, been approved to claim a total sum of GBP500, 000.00 (Five Hundred thousand, pounds) in cash credited to file RPC/2343. This is from a total cash prize of British 1 million pounds.

This year Lottery Program Jackpot is the largest ever for the National Lottery. The estimated 1 million jackpots would be the sixth biggest in U.K. history. The biggest was the 363 million pounds jackpot that went to two winners in a May 2000 drawing of The Big Game, Mega Millions' predecessor.

Please note that your lucky winning number falls within our European booklet representative office in Europe as indicated in our play coupon. In view of this, your GBP500, 000.00 (Five Hundred thousand pounds) will be released to you by our affiliate bank in UK. Our agent will immediately commence the process to facilitate the release of your funds to you as soon as you make contact with him.

All participants were selected randomly from World Wide Web site through computer draw system and extracted from over 100,000 individuals and companies. This promotion takes place annually. To file for your claim, please contact our fiduciary agent with the below details for processing of your claims.

AGENT: Mr. Jefferson William
Email: jeffersonwilliam@excite.com

To avoid unnecessary delays and complications, please quote your reference/batch numbers in any correspondences with our designated agent.

Congratulations once more from all members and staffs of this program. Thank you for being part of our promotional lottery program.

Sincerely,
Peter Richardson
Zonal Coordinator

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam