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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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• What can you do when you receive 419 spam
  
  
• Spam archive, Daily index
  

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:
  • "claims 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.
  • pbanks0@netscape.net

Fraud email example:

From: "sharon.cole7@virgin.net" <sharon.cole7@virgin.net>
Date: Tue, 25 Oct 2005 14:52:26 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: Winning Notification


The Irish Lottery47 Meadow Vale, Sligo, Ireland.Ref: LSUK/2031/8161/05Batch: R3/A312-59
SUCCESS ALERT: CONGRATULATIONS!!!
We are pleased to announce to you the draw of theIRISH LOTTERY PROGRAMME online Sweepstakes International Programheld on SATURDAY 15th OCTOBER 2005.
Your e-mail address attached to ticket number:56475600545 188 with Serial number 5368/05 drew the lucky number: 35 which subsequently won the LOTTO PLUS 1 prize. You havetherefore been approved to claim a total sum of €350,000.00(Three hundred and fifty thousand Euros) in cash credited to fileKTU/9023118308/05 of Irish Lottery.
All participants for the online version were selectedrandomly from the World Wide Web through a computer draw system andextracted from over 100,000 unions, associations, and corporate bodiesthat are listed online. This promotion takes place weekly.
Please note that your lucky winning number fallswithin our European booklet representative office in Europe as indicatedin your play coupon. In view of this, your €350,000.00 wouldbe released to you by any of our payment offices in Europe(UK).
To file for your claim, please contact our fiduciaryagent:
Peter Banks
Attorney at Law
Email:pbanks0@netscape.net
That way your Winnings Certificate and all otherrelevant documents/paperwork can be prepared for you. Note thatall prize funds must be claimed not later than One month; after thisdate all funds will be returned to the LOTTERY TREASURY as unclaimed. Inorder to avoid unnecessary delays and complications, please endeavorto quote your Reference Number ( LSUK/2031/8161/05) and BatchNumber(R3/A312-59) in every correspondence with youragent. Furthermore, should there be any change in youraddress, do inform your claims agent as soon aspossible.
For security reasons, you are advised to keep yourwinning information confidential till your claims is processed and yourmoney remitted to you in whatever manner you deem fit to claim yourprize. This is part of our precautionary measure to avoid double claimingand unwarranted abuse of this program.
Good luck from me and members of staff of theTHUNDERBALL LOTTERY.
Yours faithfully,
SHARON COLE (MRS).
Online Co-ordinator for IRISH LOTTERY SWEEPSTAKEPROGRAMME.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam