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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
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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.

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Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

• 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: Stephen Foster <claimsagent_407@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Mon, 18 Jun 2007 14:11:59 +0100 (BST)
Subject: UPDATE


Attention:Roland Kaufitz

I am in reciept of your mail,but without specification you didn't indentify yourself as said in the mail for us to carry out the verification if you throughly the actual winner.

A BRITISH NATIONAL LOTTERY PROMO PROGRAMME was held on Wednesday the 16th of May 2007 and your mail address was attached to this ticket number 56475600545188 and a serial number 5368/02 drew the lucky numbers 01-14-21-3-35-48 and a bonus number of 24 which subsequently won you the lottery in the second category. You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of £3253,437.00 in cash credited to KTU/9023118308/03.
So all we need is for you to send us your personal details for further verification.
REFERENCE NUMBER: UK/9420X2/68
FULL NAME.............................................. .
COMPANY NAME: ...........................................
FULL ADDRESS: ............................................
SEX: ................................
AGE...................................
OCCUPATION.............................
JOB DESCRIPTION...................................
TEL..................FAX............. (If any)
COUNTRY..............................
E-MAIL..................................
HAVE YOU A PASSPORT OR LICENSE............. (Identification on delivery)
WINNING NUMBER........................
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF COMPANY/ INDIVIDUAL:
Regards
Stephen Foster




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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam