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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.
  • +447031915148 (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.
  • robertedward02@yahoo.com

Fraud email example:

From: "Uk NATIONAL LOTTERY" <uknational_lotterypromo1@msn.com>
Date: Tue, 25 Oct 2005 09:21:17 +0000
Subject: WINNING NOTIFICATION

The National Lottery
P O Box 1010
Liverpool, L70 1NL
UNITED KINGDOM
(Customer Services)
Ref: UK/9420X2/68
Batch: 074/05/ZY369
Tel:+447031915148

WINNING NOTIFICATION:
We happily announce to you the draw (#1023) of the UK NATIONAL LOTTERY,
online Sweepstakes International program held on wednesday october 19th
2005.Your e-mail address attached to ticket number: 56475600545188 with
Serial number 5368/02 drew the lucky numbers: 07-18-20-21-29-47(bonus no.),
which subsequently won you the lottery in the 2nd category i.e match 5 plus
bonus.You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of £200,833 (
Two hundred thousand,eight hundred and thirty three pounds sterling) in
cash credited to file KTU/9023118308/03.
This is from a total cash prize of £803,332 shared amongst the first
six (6) lucky winners in this category i.e Match 5 plus bonus.
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,you have therefore been approved to claim a total sum
of £200,833 ( Two hundred thousand,eight hundred and thirty three
sterling) .This sum will be released to you by any of our payment offices in
Europe.Our European agents will immediately commence the process to
facilitate
the release of your funds as soon as you contact them.
For security reasons, you are advised to keep your winning information
confidential until your claims is processed and your money remitted to
you in whatever manner you deem fit.
This is part of our precautionary measure to avoid double claiming and
unwarranted abuse of this program.Please be warned.
To file for your claims, please contact our fiduciary agent:
Mr Robert Edward.
Email: robertedward02@yahoo.com
For further clarification/verification of your claims, Please call on
any of our official numbers as stated in notification e-mail.
Goodluck from me and members of staff of the UK NATIONAL LOTTERY.
Yours faithfully,
Richard K. Lloyd.
Online coordinator for UK NATIONAL LOTTERY
Sweepstakes International Program

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam