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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:
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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:
  • "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. )
  • "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. Many scammers promise a large check only in order to then demand payment of courier fees for a fake courier service. )
• 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.
  • +447045736042 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: Ecourier Shipping Agency <ecouriermailbox@parceldispatchunit.com>
Reply-To: <ecrepbox@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Wed, 11 Jul 2007 22:34:26 +0000
Subject: Welcome To eCourier Services/Choose Mode Of Delivery




To
eCourier Local,National & International Courier Services

more than delivery......
The Old Truman Brewery, 11 Hanbury Street, London, E1 6QRUnited Kingdom

+447-045-736-042

Dear Customer











This is to inform you that you have been officially cleared for payment by the Verifications Dept. at the headquarters of the




UK NATIONALLOTTERY.

The original copy of this Certificate and your Cheque from the European government stating that the money was obtained legally through their International Lotto 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.
This company decline reverse payment for these charges,

stating that it is against their Professional Policy towards ensuring the safe delivery of the Cheque 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 Cheque since payment for insurance cover was not made at point of mailing.With the above reason, reverse payment is ruled out.
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 more convenient of the two.
The options, together with their associated conditions are presented below:

OPTION 1 Courier of your winning Cheque/Draft to you via any of this channel listed below:





























DHL(1working day)
Mailing & bsp...............£600.00
Insurance...................£100.00
VAT..........................£35.00
Total.......................£735.00


FEDEX


FedEx(2working days)


Mailing &n bsp;................ £500.00 Insurance........................£100.00Vat (5%)...........................£55.75TOTAL.............................£655.75







UPS(3working days)
Mailing &n bsp;....................... £400.00 Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £80.00Vat (5%).............................. £30.95TOTAL................................. £510.95

POST OFFICE MAIL(4working days)Mailing;............................. £300.00 Insurance............................. £100.00Vat (5%).............................. £25.87TOTAL................................. £425.87











REGULAR MAIL(5working days)

Mailing .............................. £200.00 Insurance............................. £110.00Vat (5%).............................. £20.47TOTAL................................. £330.47






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:
Condition: The cost of COT (commission of transfer) being charged by our transferring bank, which is ( £1750.00)
Also attach a scanned copy of either your driver's license, 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.
Note: That your prize is in a suspense account and 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 before your prize is transferred to you.
This is in accordance with section 13(1)(n) of the national gambling act as adopted in 1993 and amended on 3RD July 1996 by the constitutional assembly.This is to protect winners and to avoid misappropriation of funds

Thanks from eCourier company. Please send your response within the next 24hrs to this same email address.



Do Acknowledge the Receipt of this Mail.
Yours In Service,
Paul Anderson





=============================================================================================================================This e-mail is intended only for the above addressee. It may contain privileged information. If you are not the addressee you must not copy, distribute, disclose or use any of the information in it. If you have received it in error please delete it and immediately notify the sender.===========================================================================================================================© Copyright 2007, All Rights Reserved. eCourier Services

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam