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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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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.
  • +447031845881 (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.
  • info_lottouk@yahoo.co.uk

Fraud email example:

From: "VICTOR WOOSTER" <lottouk7@msn.com>
Reply-To: w_victor@myway.com
Date: Tue, 03 Jan 2006 11:21:02 +0000
Subject: WINNING NOTIFICATION!!

UNITED KINGDOM NATIONAL LOTTERY
P O Box 1010 LIVERPOOL, L70 1NL
UNITED KIN GDOM
(Customer Services)
Ref: UK/9420X2/68, Batch: 074/05/ZY369
12/12/2005

WINNING NOTIFICATION.

We happily announce to you the draw (#996) of the UK NATIONAL
LOTTERY,online Sweepstakes International program held on 17th October,
2005. Your e-mail address attached to ticket number: 56475600545 188 with
Serial number 5368/02 drew the lucky numbers:7-20-22-23-34-37 -38, which
subsequently won you the lottery in the 1st category.You have therefore
been approved to claim a total sum of £141,022.00 (one hundred and forty
one thousand,and twenty two pounds) in cash credited to file
KTU/9023118308/03.This is from a total cash prize of £9,009,105.00 shared
amongst the (9) lucky winners in this category i.e Sept. 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 200,000
individuals, 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, your £141,022.00 (one hundred and forty one thousand,and
twenty two British Pounds Sterling) would be released to you by any of
our payment offices in Europe.

Our European agent will immediately commence the process to facilitate the
release of your funds as soon as you contact him. 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
to claim your prize. This is part of our precautionary measure to avoid
double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program. Administrative
charges of about £350.00 would be required for processing your prize.

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

MR.VICTOR WOOSTER
E MAIL: info_lottouk@yahoo.co.uk
TEL: +447031845881 (8.00HRS GMT -18.00HRS GMT)

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam