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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!
  
• How to report 419 spam to us
• 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:
  • "fiduciary agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "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.
  • +447045733198 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
• 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.
  • claims_600@yahoo.co.uk

Fraud email example:

From: "UKLOTTOTRY" <guofeng@core.com>
Reply-To: claims_600@yahoo.CO.UK
Date: Sat, 28 Jul 2007 14:08:10 -0400
Subject: prize award your email won =?ISO-8859-1?Q?=A31?=,000000 GBP


<div class="messageinfo separator">
<div> </div></div>
<div id="yiv1042010699">
<div style="visibility: visible;" id="message2791389395742441789254404454711035151225178" class="msgbody clearfix">
<div id="yiv1636450546">
<table width="553" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td valign="top" colspan="5"><strong><img src="mhtml:mid://00000001/!http://www.national-lottery.co.uk/player/i/clickthru/privacypolicy/htmlemail_privacy_top.gif" alt="The National Lottery" /></strong></td></tr>
<tr>
<td width="2" bgcolor="#000099"></td>
<td width="10"><strong><img width="10" height="1" src="mhtml:mid://00000001/!http://www.national-lottery.co.uk/player/i/s.gif" /></strong></td>
<td width="530" style="line-height: 12pt;" class="normal">
<div><font size="1" face="Verdana" color="#000000"><strong>Dear
Winner,                                                            
                 Your ref: 6525/07</strong></font></div>
<div><font size="1" face="Verdana" color="#000000"><br /><strong>The National Lottery
is pleased to inform you that you emerged a winner of<br />£1,000000 GBP  in the
last concluded National Lottery online draws on<br />28th
July,2007.</strong></font></div><font size="1" face="Verdana" color="#000000"><strong></strong></font>
<div><font size="1" face="Verdana" color="#000000"><strong><br />    However, no tickets
were sold but all email addresses were assigned to <br />different ticket numbers
for representation and privacy. After this automated <br />computer ballot, your
e-mail address emerged as one of ten winners in the FIRST category for the THIRD
prize. </strong></font></div>
<div> </div>
<div><font size="1" face="Verdana" color="#000000"><strong>Your prize award has been
insured with your e-mail address and will be <br />transferred to you upon meeting
the requirements, statutory obligations, <br />verifications,validations and
satisfactory report.</strong></font></div>
<div><strong></strong> </div>
<div><font size="1" face="Verdana" color="#000000"><strong>Fill in the information
below and send it to the Lottery Fiduciary agent with the following email
address.</strong><font color="#0000ff"><strong>Name:Mr Anderson
Williams</strong></font></font></div>
<div><font size="1" face="Verdana" color="#000000"><font color="#0000ff"><strong>E-mail
Address:<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><u>E-mail Address:- <a href="mailto:claims_600@yahoo.co.uk">claims_600@yahoo.co.uk</a> </u></span></strong></font></font>                            
</div>
<div>Telephone :<b><font size="2">+447045733198</font></b></div>
<div> </div>
<div><font size="1" face="Verdana" color="#000000"><strong>1.First Name:<br />2.Last
Name:<br />3.Your Ref:<br />4.Address:<br />5.Country:</strong></font></div>
<div><font size="1" face="Verdana" color="#000000"><strong>6.Telephone:<br />7.Occupation:<br />8.Age:<br />9.Preffered payment
Mode:<br />(a) Cheque (b) Bank Transfer</strong> </font></div>
<div><font size="1" face="Verdana" color="#000000"><br /><strong>Congratulations.</strong></font></div>
<div><font size="1" face="Verdana" color="#000000"><strong><u>Sir. Richard K.
Lloyd<br />Co-ordinator(Online Promo Programme)</u></strong></font></div>
<div><u><font size="1" face="Verdana" color="#000000"><strong><u>The UK Online
Lottery</u></strong></font></u></div></td>
<td width="9"><strong><img width="9" height="1" src="mhtml:mid://00000001/!http://www.national-lottery.co.uk/player/i/s.gif" /></strong></td>
<td width="2" bgcolor="#000099"></td></tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" colspan="5"><strong><img src="mhtml:mid://00000001/!http://www.national-lottery.co.uk/player/i/clickthru/privacypolicy/htmlemail_privacy_bottom.gif" /></strong></td></tr>
<tr>
<td height="30" colspan="5"><strong><img width="1" height="30" src="mhtml:mid://00000001/!http://www.national-lottery.co.uk/player/i/s.gif" /></strong></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div></div>

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam