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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
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• Company names mentioned in 419 spam:
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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:
  • "cost of mailing your draft" (this will cost you money - that's what the scam is about)
  • "payment for the courier" (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)
  • "vat (5%)" (VAT is 17.5% in the UK but 5% in Nigeria)
  • "courier service" (Courier companies mentioned in 419 scams are always fake. They will have you send money to them, but won't deliver anything. )
  • "courier company" (Courier companies mentioned in 419 scams are always fake. They will have you send money to them, but won't deliver anything. )
• 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.
  • +447045726559 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: TOM SMITH <tnt_ukcourier_services111@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Sat, 2 Jun 2007 17:40:42 +0100 (BST)
Subject: TNT COURIER COST FOR DELIVERY




ATTENTION:Halag Thal,


This is to inform you that you have been officially cleared for payment by the Verifications Dept. at the headquarters of the UK NATIONAL LOTTERY online Sweepstakes International program.
The original copy of this certificate from the stating that the money was obtained legally through their Online UK NATIONAL LOTTERY promotion will be sent to you or your bank as soon as you meet with any of the options selected and your winnings will be couriered or transferred to you immediately.


You can now begin the final step of the claims process, which is the transferring of your cash prize to you either in Cash/Cheque. With regards to this, there are three options open to you, you are required to select the most convenient of the three.

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

OPTIONS:
Courier of your winning draft to you via any of this channel listed below:

Option:1
TNT EXPRESS DELIVERY (Overnight)
Mailing...............................£150.00
Insurance.............................£250.00
Vat (5%).............................£100.00
TOTAL.................................£500.00========$992.280 USD


Option:2
TNT PREMIUM SERVICE(2working days)
Mailing &n bsp;.......................£100.00
Insurance.............................£250.00
Vat (5%)..............................£100.00
TOTAL.................................£450.00========$893.052 USD


Option:3
TNT REGULAR SERVICE(4working days)
Mailing ;.............................£50.00
Insurance.............................£250.00
Vat (5%)..............................£50.00
TOTAL.................................£350.00========$694.596

The insurance company declined reverse payment for the courier, stating that it is against their professional policy towards ensuring the safe delivery of the draft to you. That if a reverse payment is made, and something goes wrong, that we/you cannot sue the courier company or insurance company to recover the full value of the fund as stipulated in the draft since payment for insurance cover was not made at point of mailing.

With the above reason, reverse payment is ruled out.Forward the cost of mailing your draft with any of the courier channel cost you choose above to us.

Note that your prize is protected by a hardcover insurance policy by GEOTRUST INSURANCE COMPANY, which makes it impossible for us to deduct any amount from your winnings before it is 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 courier options above.

Also attach a scanned copy of either your driver's license, international passport (photo page) or any other legally identifying document(Optional) while sending your option to us.
Also be reminded that the deadline for the claiming of your 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 re-used in the drawings of the next edition of the lottery.


OPTION 2:BANK TO BANK TRANSFER

Condition: The cost of COT (commission of transfer) being charged by our transfering contracting bank, which is (£1250 GBP) of the cash being transferred will be paid by beneficiary(winner) for account activation/COT.
Note: That your prize is protected by a GEOTRUST INSURANCE COMPANY POLICY, which makes it impossible to deduct any amount from the money before it is remitted to you. This means that the above charges CANNOT be deducted from the prize and hence must be paid pending on the option selected.

Please, respond to this email by making a selection from the options above.
Also attach a scanned copy of either your driver's licence, international passport (photo page) or any other legally identifying document.

Once again, Good luck and Congratulations . You are to send your response within the next 24hrs.


Regards,
MR.TOM SMITH.


TNT COURIER SERVICE
(DISPATCH OFFICER
TEL+44 70457 26559




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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam