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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:
  • "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. )
  • "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)
  • "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.
  • +447045700747 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: Speed Post Courier Company <speedpostcouriercompanyltd@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Tue, 10 Jul 2007 22:12:34 +0100 (BST)
Subject: CLAIMS OPTIONS ON HOW TO DELIVER YOUR WINNING PRIZE TO YOU.



SPEED POST COURIER SERVICE©
(REG NO: 194562)

ORDER NO:657252B
10th July 2007

ATTENTION: Balde,

WELCOME TO SPEED POST COURIER DELIVERY COMPANY. WE WANT TO INFORMED YOU THAT WE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DELIVERY OF YOUR WINNING PRIZE TO YOU.

ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS TO CHOOSE AN OPTION BECAUSE YOUR WINNING PRIZE WILL BE DELIVERED TO YOU THROUGH ANY OPTIONS YOU CHOOSED.


Option 1: COURIER DELIVERY
Courier of your winning details to you via any of this channel listed below:
SPEED/POST (2working days)

Mailing £175.00 00.00 Insurance £300.00 00.00 Vat (5%) £176.75 00.00 TOTAL £651.75 00.00


SPEED/POST (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

SPEED/POST (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 £250,00 (Two hundred and fifty thousand pound 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 £2,000GBP) of the cash being transferred will be paid by you.

Note: That your prize is protected by a hardcover insurance policy , 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.

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.

BEST REGARDS

SCOTT CARTER (dispatch officer)
TEL:+447045700747
FAX:+448704714613

SPEED POST COURIER SERVICE©
You are welcome to speed/post courier service©



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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam