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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
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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)
  • "uk national lottery inc." (no such lottery exists)
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "overseas claims unit" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
• 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 free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
  • lottoagent_claims@yahoo.co.uk

Fraud email example:

From: afkbl <afkbl2000@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 17 Jul 2007 20:52:37 -0700
Subject: Re: Email Prize Award 2007.

On 7/17/07, Uk National Lottery <maggiesmith@onetel.com> wrote:
>
>
> The National Lottery Board
> Home Office:L70 1NL Liverpool,
> P. O. Box 1010, UNITED KINGDOM
> (Customer Services)
> Reference Number: UK/9420X2/68
> Batch Number: 074/05/ZY369
> Ticket Number: 56475600545188.
>
> WINNING NOTIFICATION:
> We happily announce to you the draw (#1204) of the UK NATIONAL LOTTERY,
> online Sweepstakes International program held on .16th July, 2007.
> Your e-mail address attached to e-ticket number: 56475600545 188 with
> Serial number 5368/02 drew the lucky (lotto) numbers:16 22 28 30
> 33 35
> Bonus ball (#37)which subsequently won you the lottery in the 2nd
> category i.e match 6 plus bonus. You have therefore been approved to claim
> a
> total sum of £541,022(Five hundred and forty one thousand,twenty-two
> pounds sterling) in cash credited to file KTU/9023118308/03.
> This is from a total cash prize of £3,246,132 shared amongst the (6)
> lucky winners in this category i.e Match 6 plus bonus.
>
> All participants for the online version were selected randomly from the
> World Wide Websites through computer draw system and extracted from
> over 100,000 unions, associations, and corporate bodies that are listed
> online. This promotion takes place Bi-weekly. Please note that your
> lucky winning number falls within our European booklet representative
> office in Europe as indicated in your play coupon.
>
> In view of this, your £1,200,000(ONE MILLION AND TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND
> POUNDS
> STERLING)
> would be released to you by any of ourpayment offices in Europe.To file
> for
> claim, contact our overseas claims
> unit with the information below:
>
> OVERSEAS CLAIMS UNIT
> United Kingdom Lottery Fiduciary
> Contact Person: Sir Gregory
> email:lottoagent_claims@yahoo.co.uk
>
> VERIFICATION FORM
> 1.FULL NAMES:__________________________________
> 2.ADDRESS:_____________________________________
> _______________________________________________
> 3.SEX:__________
> 4.AGE:__________
> 5.MARITAL STATUS:___________________
> 6.OCCUPATION:_______________________
> 7.E-MAIL ADDRESS:_____________________________
> 8.TELEPHONE NUMBER:__________________________
> 9.LOTTO NUMBER:____________________ B. DRAW NUMBER:______________
> 10.TICKET NUMBER:___________________
> 11.SERIAL NUMBER:__________________
> 12.AMOUNT WON:______________________
> 13.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF COMPANY/INDIVIDUAL____________
> ___________________________________________
> 14. COUNTRY________________________________
>
> Goodluck from me and members of staff of the UK NATIONAL LOTTERY.
> Yours faithfully,
> Dr. Carl A. Moore.
> Online coordinator for UK NATIONAL LOTTERY
> Sweepstakes International Program.
>
> (c) Copyright 1994-2007 The UK National Lottery Inc.
> All rights reserved. Terms of Service - Guideline
>
>
>
>
>
>

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam