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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:

• The following fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
  • "uk national lottery" (can only win this lottery if you bought a ticket)
• 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. If it's a lottery prize, remember that real lotteries do not pay large prizes by check. They wire the money directly to your bank account and you do not pay for that. )
• 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.
  • +447045701456 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: Hasell Atlantic Bank Plc <service@hasellatlanticbank.com>
Date: Tue, 29 May 2007 18:49:48 +0000
Subject: Attn: Gerrell Schroelich [Bank Options].



75 Gresham Street , Manchester, EC2V 7HN, United Kingdom.Tel: (+44) 704 570 1456Fax: (+44) 870 479 1876 Attn: Gerrell Schroelich , We are in receipt of your mail and content well noted, however we congratulate you on being one of the very lucky winner of the 2007 Ediction of The UK NATIONAL LOTTERY ONLINE PROMOTION, As we also want you to know that after the verification process conducted, we wish to inform you that the Administrative department and promotions department has just approved your payment of the 1,000,000.00 (ONE MILLION POUND STERLING), and the funds is now deposited in our suspense BANK in your favour. As we also want you to be Inform that the process for claiming your winning funds has been made very simple so that by the end of two weeks at the most,you are assured of having received your cash prize of 1,000,000.00 (ONE MILLION POUND STERLING), As we want to know that the first step in the claims process is to make selection from any the Following Option below.=====================================================================================1. BANK TRANSFER: If you want us to Transfer your Winning Funds into your Bank Account in your Country, kindly let us know so that we can send you the Transfer Form to enable you fill and retune the form by E-mail attachment or fax, and Note that your Transfer is going to be done electronic transfer as it will take three working days to reflect in your given Account. Note: you will be required to pay for the Transfer fee which is 450 Pounds (Four Hundred and Fifty Pounds) =====================================================================================2. DELIVERY OF YOUR WINNING CHEQUE: If you want us to send you the Winning Cheque of One Million Pounds and other Document backing the Cheque to your House or Office Address that you will provide for us. Note: you will be required to pay for the Post Fee and The Insurance Fee which is 460 Pounds (Four Hundred and Sixty Pounds)=====================================================================================3. ACCOUNT OPENING: If you wish to set up a New Bank account in this Bank so that we can deposit your Winning funds On it as that we enable you to make Transfer Online to any Bank Account in the world and your Debit Card will also be send along with the Cheque Book to your House Address as soon as the account is been created. Note: you will be required to pay for the Account Set up Fee which is 1,000.00 Pounds (One Thousand Pounds) which will also be added to your Account Balance.=====================================================================================Note: the reason behind the fee is because your Winnings prize is been protected by a hard cover insurance policy, which makes it impossible to deduct any amount from the money before it can be remitted to you. This means that the above charges cannot be deducted from the prize and hence must be provided by you before your prize is transferred to you. Please respond to this email by making a selection from the (3) options above. Also fax or attach a copy of either your driver's license, international passport (photo page) or any other legally identifying document for proved of winner In order to avoid double Claim. Also be reminded that the deadline for the claiming of winnings is exactly Two weeks after the receipt of this email. After this period, your cash prize will be deemed to have been forfeited by you and will be reused in the drawings of the next edition of the PROMOTION. Good luck and Congratulations once again, and send our Regards to your Family.Best Regards,Mr. Jerry Rayman(Managing Director).**HASELL ATLANTIC GROUP BANK LONDON , Registered in England No 929027.Registered Office: 75 Gresham Street , Manchester, EC2V 7HN.Regulated by the British Government and Financial Services Authority.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam