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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)
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "tax clearance" (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. )
  • "fiduciary agent" (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!

Fraud email example:

From: Laura Curtis <agent10010lauracurtis@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2007 21:41:47 +0100 (BST)
Subject: CLAIM


The National Lottery
P O Box 1010 Liverpool, L70 1NL
UNITED KINGDOM
(Customer Services)
Ref: UK/9420X2/68
Batch: 074/05/ZY369


Dear Mr/Mrs/miss.......FREDA MEYERLICH,

The bank just notify us of your winning claim still pending in the bank and we advice that if between now and the next seven working days your winning will be return back to the UK NATIONAL LOTTERY office and you will be required to come over to THE UK NATIONAL LOTTERY ofiice in London with prove of ownership.

Kindly note that this process will require a tax clearance fee which must be paid by you before you can redeem your winning claim.


Best Regards
LAURA CURTIS
Fiduciary Agent,



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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam