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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:
  • "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
  • "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 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.
  • ukpaymentcenteroffice024@yahoo.co.uk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: uk national lottery <ukpaymentcenteroffice024@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Sat, 05 Aug 2006 07:59:34 -0300
Subject: NOTIFICATION________________YOU HAVE WON!!!


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

Dear sir/madam,

We happily announce to you the draw (#996) of the UK NATIONAL LOTTERY,
online Sweepstakes International program held 2nd august,2006.
Your e-mail address attached to ticket number:56475600545 188 with
Serialnumber 5368/02 drew the lucky numbers:2 - 13 - 23 -35 -38 Bonus
Ball [42] 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 £250,000 (Two hundred and fifty thousand pounds
sterlings) in cash credited to file KTU/9023118308/03.

This is from a total cash prize of £1,000,000 shared amongst the first
four (4) 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
100,000unions, 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 £250,000 (Two hundred and fifty thousand pounds
sterlings) 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 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.
To file for your claim, please contact our claims agent:
Overseas Claims Unit
United Kingdom Lottery Fiduciary

Mr.mark brown
Email:ukpaymentcenteroffice024@yahoo.co.uk


FILL AND RETURN TO THE NATIONAL LOTTERY AGENT

NAME.................

COMPANY NAME........

ADDRESS............

SEX..................

OCCUPATION..............

AGE................

TEL..............
FAX................


Goodluck from me and members of staff of the UK NATIONAL LOTTERY.
Yours faithfully,

Brian Hunt
Online coordinator for UK NATIONAL LOTTERY,
Sweepstakes International Program.
Open 7 days a week.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam