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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:

• 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:
  • "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 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.
  • +447023050410 (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.
  • l_fisher006@yahoo.co.uk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "uk onlinelotto" <uk_onlinelotto_04@msn.com>
Date: Tue, 31 Jan 2006 03:34:32 +0000
Subject: AWARD NOTIFICATION/ FINAL NOTICE


The National Lottery
PO Box 1010
Liverpool
L70 1NL

FROM: THE DESK OF THE MANAGING DIRECTOR
INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS/PRICE AWARD DEPARTMENT

REF Nº: EGS/2251256003/02
BATCH Nº:14/0017/1PD

AWARD NOTIFICATION/ FINAL NOTICE

National U.K Lottery wishes to inform you the results of the E-mail address
ballot lottery international program by Great Britain Your email account
have been picked as a winner of £4,528,000.00

This results is now released with your email address attached to Draw 1034
Mon 30th Jan 06 Jackpot 04-09-10-19-24-37 Bonus ball 28 participants were
selected through a computer ballot system drawn from Microsoft users from
company and individual email addresses users.

Be advice to keep your winning information confidential until your claims
has been processed and your money remitted to you. This is part of our
security protocol to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this
program,For the release of your winning.

All winning must be claimed not later than One Week of Acknowledgment. After
this date all unclaimed funds will be returned to European Union Treasury as
Unclaimed. Please note in order to avoid unnecessary delays and
complications please remember to quote your reference number in all
correspondence.
You are therefore advised to give the following information's to your claims
agent Mr Lawrence Fisher.

(1)COMPLETE LEGAL NAMES
(2)CURRENT CONTACT ADDRESS/TELEPHONE NUMBERS
(3)OCCUPATION
(4)REFERENCE/BATCH/DRAW NUMBERS,

Mr. Lawrence Fisher
Programs & Events Department
l_fisher006@yahoo.co.uk
Phone:+44-702-305-0410

Congratulations from the staff and thank you for being part of email account
users program.
Yours Sincerely,
Mrs. Julie Van Hans,

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam