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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
• Support our efforts to stop scams!
  
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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:

• 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!

Fraud email example:

From: Mrs Elizerbeth Walters <shellclaims_dept@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Tue, 15 May 2007 20:39:55 +0100 (BST)
Subject: VERIFICATION FORM


SHELL LOTTERY INTERNATIONAL.
UN-CLAIMED DEPARTMENT.
CUSTOMER SERVICE CENTER.
WORLD LOTTERY.
Ref: SHL/9420X2/68
Batch:074/05/ZY369.

Dear Winner,
Congratulations once again from all the staff here. I am in receipt of your mail and I must say that you should count yourself extremely lucky to have emerged as one of our winners in this year lucky dip sweepstakes. As you already know your email address was randomly selected along with others from over 125,000 website on the internet of which your email address was attached to a ticket number, and it was selected along with others as winners. I have finally verified your winnings and it's exactly with what is present on our Database. Your particulars has to be documented for record purposes.
VERIFICATION FORM

1.FULL NAMES:__________________________________
2.ADDRESS:_____________________________________________
____________________________________________
3.SEX:_______________
4.AGE:________
5.MARITAL STATUS:___________________
6.OCCUPATION:________________________
7.E-MAIL ADDRESS:_____________________________
8.TELEPHONE NUMBER:_____________________
9.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF COMPANY/INDIVIDUAL____________
___________________________________________
10. COUNTRY________________________________

Yours Truly,
Mrs Elizerbeth Walters.
Claims Agent(Uk Online Promo Programme

Sweepstakes International Program.
Copyright @ 2007 Shell Lottery International


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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam