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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
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• 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:

• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "insurance fee " (this will cost you money - that's what the scam is about)
  • "deadline" (they are rushing you so you don't have time to think properly)
  • "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 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.
  • +447011140675 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: tom west <internationalcouriersystem01@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Mon, 11 Dec 2006 23:06:00 +0000 (GMT)
Subject: LAST STEP IN CLAIMING YOUR WINNINGS



INTERNATIONAL COURIER SYSTEMS

18 Kings Road,London SW3 5EN,
UNITED KINGDOM

Tel: +44-701-114-0675



DATE: 11th Dec. 2006





ATTN: seilerzer wilburn

In receipt of your email I write to inform you that you have been officially cleared by the Claims Department at the headquarters of the BMW PROMOTION and your pakage has been brought to us for delivery. The packege brought here to be delivered to you include: A BMW CAR AND A CHECK OF £500,000.00. We are now sending the cheque to you right away but if you can handle the delivery of both items at once, better. We have been instructed to first dispatch the cheque as this will enable you have enough money to for the shipment of your won car when you have received and cashed the cheque.


For a better explanation on how you won these prizes, kindly contact Dr. Oddo Japhet who directed you to this office for you prize

You can now begin the final step of the claims process, which is the transferring of your cash prize to you. With regards to this, there are three options open to you, you are required to select the most convenient among the three (3) options.

The original copy of your certificate and your cheque stating that the money was obtained legally through will be sent to you and the bank as soon as you meet with any of the option selected and your winnings will be couriered or transferred to you immediately.

The options, together with their associated conditions are presented below:

OPTION 1:

Express (2working days)
Mailing &n bsp;.......................£150.00
Insurance................................£250.00
Vat ..........................................£44.00
TOTAL......................................£444.00

EQUIVALENT IN USA DOLLARS.....................$772.00


OPTION 2:
REGULAR POST(4working days)
Mailing &n bsp;........................£105.00
Insurance.................................£250.00
Vat ...........................................£38.00
TOTAL......................................£393.00

EQUIVALENT IN USA DOLLARS.....................$683.00

OPTION 3:
Transfer of your prize money to your designated bank account via our affiliate bank in the UK

The cost of COT (commission of transfer) being charged by the transferring bank, which is (£1,000 GBP) of the cash being transferred will be paid by you(winner) and also the Insurance fee of (£220GBP). The total amount of the required charges is £1,220 which is $2,156 in USA Dollars.

To ensure a professional cover over the delivery of your parcel (winning package) or transfer prize money, the insurance cover has been provided for you. This option allows for full responsibility of the courier company or the bank on all issues concerning the delivery of winning package or the transfer of your winning funds.

If we do not ensure this option and something goes wrong with your winning package, a reverse payment cannot be made and the courier company or the bank cannot be sued by either us or you to recover the full value of the funds as stipulated in the draft because this option was not taken at the point of mailing or transfer.

Note that your prize money is protected by a hardcover insurance policy by an insurance company, which makes it impossible to deduct any amount from the money before it has been remitted to you. This means that the above charges cannot be deducted from your prize money and hence must be provided by you before your prize is transferred to you.

If you choose the bank Transfer option, you are required to send us a scanned copy of your valid identification which bears your photograph and full names,this is to open a temporary account for you were your funds will be transferred from. (suitable forms of identification include,international passports or drivers licence or state identity cards). The following information of the designated bank account which you wish the funds to be transferred to will be required.

NAME OF BANK...............................
BANK ADDRESS...............................
NAME OF ACCOUNT.........................
ACCOUNT TYPE...............................
ACCOUNT NUMBER..........................
ABA/ROUTING ID NUMBER...............

If you choose the courier option to facilitate the identification of you by the courier company, when delivering your winning package it is required of you to send to me a valid identification ie a scanned copy of your driver's license, international passport (photo page) or any other legally identifying document . This will ensure that you are effectively handled by the courier company in all dealings.

Also be reminded that the deadline for the claiming of winnings has been announced to you by Dr. Japhet Oddo. After this period, Good luck and Congratulations once again.

Warm Regards,
Henry Peters
Chief Operating Officer









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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam