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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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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:
  • "money laundering" ("anti-terrorist", "anti-money laundering" or "drug-free" certificates are a common way for criminals in fake lottery scams and other Advance Fee scams to get you to send money to them. There are no such certificates in the real banking world. )
  • "cost of mailing your draft" (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. )
  • "payment for the courier" (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. )
  • ",000,000" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
  • "deadline" (they are rushing you so you don't have time to think properly)
  • "vat (5%)" (VAT rate in the UK is 17.5%, check the math)
  • "affidavit " (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
  • "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.
  • +447011132957 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
  • +447024094656 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: speedcourier expressuk <speedcourierexpressuk1@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Mon, 25 Jun 2007 20:09:25 +0100 (BST)
Subject: YOUR URGENT IS NEEDED!!!!!!!!!!!



dear Frau Koertgen

your personal e-mail address, is attached to winning
number 20-12may-2007-02MSW, with serial number S/N-00168 drew the lucky
numbers 887-13-865-37-10-83, and consequently won in the first lottery
category. You have therefore been approved for a lump sum pay out of
GBP
1,400,000.00 POUNDS in cash credited to file REF NO: MSW-L/200-26937
This is from total prize money of GBP 7,000,000.00 POUNDS, shared among
the Twenty five (25) international winners in this category.

you selected through our microsoft computer ballot
system drawn form 21,000 names,3,000 names from your continent, as part
of International "E-MAIL" Promotions Program, which is conducted annually for our prominent MS WORD user all over the world, and for the
continues use of E-mail.

You are to choose from the option



WELCOME TO SPEED COURIER EXPRESS




Date: 25th June, 2007,
ATTENTION: Frau Koertgen,

This is to inform you that you have been officially cleared for payment by the Verifications Dept. at the headquarters of the MICROSOFT WORD LOTTERYInternational.The original copy of this certificate, together with a covering document (Money Laundering protection and Letter of Affidavit for Claims) from the MSW MEGA JACKPOT LOTTO WINNINGS PROGRAMS government stating that the money was obtained legally through their Lottery, 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.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 two options open to you, you are required to select the most convenient of the two.
The options, together with their associated conditions are presented below:

Option 1: COURIER DELIVERY
Courier of your winning details to you via any of this channel listed below:
EXPRESS (2working days)
Mailing £175.00 00.00 Insurance £300.00 00.00 Vat (5%) £176.75 00.00 TOTAL £651.75 00.00
EXPRESS (3 working days)
Mailing &n bsp £190.00 00.00 Insurance £200.00 00.00 Vat (5%) £198.95 00.00 TOTAL £599.95 00.00
EXPRESS (7working days)
Mailing £178.00 00.00 Insurance £200.00 00.00 Vat (5%) £135.45 00.00 TOTAL £513.45 00.00

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.

Option 2: BANK TRANSFER CHARGES
The said amount claim £1,400,000.00 POUNDS STERLING will be wired to your bank account via swift bank transfer.Condition: The cost of COT (commission of transfer) being charged by our transferring bank is(i.e £1,471) of the cash being transferred will be paid by you.

Note: That your prize is protected by a hardcover 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 the prize and hence must be provided by you first before your prize is transferred to you.

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

Good luck and Congratulations once again. Please send your response within the next 24hrs to this same email address.



BEST REGARDS
NAME:MR JACKSON WILLIAMS (dispatch officer)
Tel:+44 701113 2957/+44 701113 4069/+ 44 70240 94656
Fax:+448700686412 / 448700686605




SPEED COURIER
























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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam