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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:

• An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "million united states dollars" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
• 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.
  • claimsprocessingofficer02@hotmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "uknational lotteryonlineresult" <uknationallotteronliner_result006@hotmail.com>
Date: Tue, 17 Jan 2006 17:43:57 +0000
Subject: YOU WON (UK NATIONAL LOTTERY ONLINE RESULT 06)

  

The National Lottery
PO Box 1010
Liverpool
L70 1NL
UNITED KINGDOM
(Customer Services)

Ref: UK/9420X2/68
Batch: 074/05/ZY369

WINNING NOTIFICATION:

We happily announce to you the draw (#1050) of the UK
NATIONAL LOTTERY, online Sweepstakes International program held on
Sat 14 Jan 06.
Your e-mail address attached to ticket number:
56475600545 188 with Serial number 5368/02 drew the
lucky numbers:04-08-16-23-28-47(bonus no.36), which subsequently won
you the lottery in the 2ndcategory i.e match
5 plus bonus.
You have therefore been approved to claim atotal sum
of US$1,000,000.00 (One Million United States Dollars) in cash credited to file ktu/9023118308/03.
This is from a total cash prize of £1,409,319 shared
amongst the (27)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, your US$1,000,000.00 (One Million United States Dollars) in cash credited to file
ktu/9023118308/03.will be released to you by any of our payment offices
in Europe. Our European office will immediately commencethe process to
facilitate the release of your funds as soon as you contact the claims
processing officer.
For security reasons, you are advised to keep your winning information
confidential till your claim 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. Please be
warned.
To file for your claim, please contact our claims processing officer:
SIMON CHURCH (Mr)
Email:claimsprocessingofficer02@hotmail.com

Office open 24 hour Mon-Monday

You can go to our online result site to confirm the
value of your winnings and also get a prize breakdown:-
www.national-lottery.co.uk/player/p/results/results.do
UK NATIONAL LOTTERY.
Yours faithfully,
JAMES SMITH (Mr)
Online coordinator for UK NATIONAL LOTTERY
Sweepstakes International Program

 

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam