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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:

• 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:
  • "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 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.
  • dsanchez@ny.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "Mrs. Carolyn Ferguson" <bb1jj1bb1jj@msn.com>
Date: Sat, 28 Jan 2006 09:54:21 +0000
Subject: BONUS WINNING NOTIFICATION:CONGRATULATIONS!!!

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


BONUS WINNING NOTIFICATION:

Dear winner,

We happily announce to you the draw (#1000) of the UK NATIONAL LOTTERY,
online Sweepstakes International program held on Tuesday 20th of January,
2006.

Your e-mail address attached to ticket number: 56154800945 618 with
Serial number 20117/02 drew the lucky numbers: 07-12-16-24-29-37 (bonus
no.44), 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
£450,000(four hundred and fifty thousand pounds sterling) in cash
credited to file KTU/9023118308/03. This is from a total cash prize of
£4,500,000 shared amongst the (10) lucky winners in this category i.e Match
5 plus
bonus.

Participants were selected through a computer ballot system drawn
randomly from a pool of over 100,000 names of e-mail addresses drawn from
Europe, America, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Middle-East, parts of Africa,
and North & South America as part of our international promotions programme
conducted annually to encourage prospective overseas entries. We hope
with part of your prize awards, you will take part in our subsequent lottery
jackpots.

In view of this, your £450,000(four hundred and fifty thousand pounds
sterling) in cash will be released to you by our payment offices in
Europe. Our agents will immediately commence the process to facilitate the
release of your funds as soon they are contacted.

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 measures to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse
of this program. Please be advised.

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

Dr. Diego Sanchez

Email: dsanchez@ny.com

Congratulations from me and members of staff of UK national lottery

THE NATIONAL LOTTERY.
Yours faithfully,
Mrs. Carolyn Ferguson
Online coordinator for THE NATIONAL LOTTERY
Sweepstakes Bonus International Program.

DO NOT REPLY TO THIS MAIL !!! CONTACT OUR FIDUCIARY AGENT TO FILE FOR
YOUR CLAIM.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam