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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

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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:
  • "fiduciary agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "cheque " (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.
  • onlineuknationalottery4willsmith@yahoo.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: CUSTOMER SERVICE <onlineuknationalottery4willsmith@yahoo.com>
Date: Thu, 09 Nov 2006 01:22:28 +0100
Subject: Mrs Serena Jones!!!


UK NATIONAL LOTTERY
P O Box 1010
Liverpool, L70 1NL
UNITED KINGDOM
BATCH NUMBER: 013/05/8394369
REF NUMBER:UK/776090X2/23

We happily announce to you the draw (#961) of the UK NATIONAL LOTTERY, online Sweepstakes International program held on Wednesday 8th of November 2006. It is yet to be unclaimed and you are getting the final NOTIFICATION as regards this. Your e-mail address attached to ticket number: 8603775966738 with BATCH NUMBER: 013/05/8394369 and REF NUMBER:UK/776090X2/23 which drew the Winning numbers: 24-30-38-43-46-06 Bonus Ball, 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 £300,000.00 (Three Hundred thousand Pounds Sterling) with an Xmas bonus of £50,000 in cash credited to file KTU/9023118308/03. This is from a total cash prize of £4,029,464 shared amongst the(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 100,000 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 £300,000.00 (Three Hundred thousand Pounds Sterling) will 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 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 fiduciary agent:
***************************************************************
Mr. David Morgan
FINANCE DEPARTMENT
UK NATIONAL LOTTERY
2 LANSDOWNE ROW,BERKELEY SQUARE,
LONDON,W1J 6H,
UNITED KINGDOM.
Office Email: onlineuknationalottery4willsmith@yahoo.com *********************************************************************************************
Please do remember,all winning must be claimed not later than two weeks of this notification to enable us register you to our website as a winner. After this time all unclaimed funds will be included in the next stake. Note:Remember to send the following detail below to FINANCE DEPARTMENT for validation of your winnings.

1.FULL NAMES:............................................................
2.ADDRESS:...............................................................
3.SEX:...................................................................
4.AGE:...................................................................
5.MARITAL STATUS:........................................................
6.OCCUPATION:............................................................
7.E-MAIL ADDRESS:........................................................
8.TELEPHONE NUMBER:......................................................
9.BATCH NUMBER: 013/05/8394369
10.REF NUMBER:UK/776090X2/23
11.WINNING NUMBER:24-30-38-43-46-06
12.TICKET NUMBER:8603775966738
13.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF COMPANY/INDIVIDUAL:..............................
14.AMOUNT WON:...........................................................
15.COUNTRY:..............................................................
16.COMPANY NAME(IF APPLICABLE):..........................................
17.ANNUAL INCOME:........................................................
PAYMENT OPTIONS:

(CHOOSE AND TICK ONE OF THE FOLLOWING OPTIONS BELOW):
(1) CHEQUE (Delivery Of Your Winning Cheque To You At Home Within
24hours By A Courier Service) :
(2) WIRE TRANSFER:

Yours faithfully,
Serena Jones.
Online Coordinator for THE NATIONAL LOTTERY. --

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam