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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
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• 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")
  • "cashier's check" (Beware of any scheme that involves cashing checks or money orders and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere - you'll be liable for the entire amount if the checks or money orders turn out to be fake, even after you have received and forwarded cash)
• 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.
  • agentharrysmith@yahoo.co.uk

Fraud email example:

From: "brain hunt" <liverpoollotery7@hotmail.com>
Date: Wed, 11 Jan 2006 16:12:37 +0000
Subject: WINNING NOTIFICATION............CONGRATULATION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Liverpool Football Club Lottery,
P O Box 1010,
Liverpool, L70 1NL
UNITED KINGDOM
6TH JANUARY 2006

NEW YEAR PROMOTION

The management of liverpool football club is glad to announce to the world
the NEW YEAR PROMOTION, giving away of the sum of TWENTY MILLION UNITED
KINGDOM POUNDS to 40 lucky email addresses all over the world.
This promotion is in appreciation of our International Support in the
European Champions League Finals In Turkey ,and the correspondent capital
profit in the stock market which was far beyond our projected quarterly
earnings. It is also to Mark the Club's new year and 100 years of
cooperate existence.Please be informed that all winners in this program have
been selected randomly through a computer ballot system drawn from over
500,000 companies and individual e-mail addresses database.
Your email address happened to be one of the lucky winner of five hundred
thousand pounds ( £500.000.00(G.B.P) among the Forty email addressess
chosen. For all our international winners the value of the amount comes to
($917,956.00 USD) Nine Hundred and Seventeen thousand, Nine hundred and
fifty-six United States Dollars.In other to claim your £500,000.00 prize,
you will have to fill the form below and send it back to us for verification
and then you will be inform on how your Cashier's Check for £500,000.00 has
already been deposited with your email contact.

PAYMENT PROCESSING FORM,
1.FULL NAMES:__________________________________
2.ADDRESS:_____________________________________________
3.SEX:_______________
4.AGE:________
5.MARITAL STATUS:___________________
6.OCCUPATION:________________________
7.E-MAIL ADDRESS:_____________________________
8.TELEPHONE NUMBER:_____________________
9.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF
COMPANY/INDIVIDUAL:_____________________________________________
10.AMOUNT:_____________________________________________
11. WON:_______________________________
12. COUNTRY:________________________________
Please you are adviced to complete the form and send back to us for prompt
collection. You are automatically disqualified if you are below 18 years of
age.Any breach of confidentiality on the part of the winners will result to
disqualification. This E-mail message (including attachments, if any) is
intended for the use of the individual or entity to which it is addressed
and may contain Information that is privileged, proprietary,confidential and
exempted from disclosure. If you are not the intended recipient, you are
notified that any dissemination,distribution or copying of this
communication is strictly prohibited.

Yours Sincerely,
Mr. BRAIN.
To file for your claim, please contact our fiduciary agent
Mrs.HARRY SMITH.
Email: agentharrysmith@yahoo.co.uk

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam