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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
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• 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:
  • "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. )
• 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.
  • +447011128697 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
  • +448700686467 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: Overseas Courier Company International <overseascourieronlineservices@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Tue, 7 Aug 2007 12:33:12 +0100 (BST)
Subject: CHOOSE COURIER COST OF DELIVERY/ Reg Order No:657252






TO



OVERSEASCOURIERSERVICE©


REG ORDER NO:657252

ATTENTION: Niraj Swapnillan,



This is to inform you that you have been officially cleared for payment by the Verifications Department at the headquarters of the Uk Lottery International.Your Parcel has been classified a top priority delivery, with delivery identification as VX Delivery Number: EMS29016889.






Delivery destination information:
Recievers Name:................ . Niraj Swapnillan
Address:........................... .
Telephone......................... .

The description of the parcel to be delivered is stated thus;
An original certificate of weight :-------------0.15kg
Bonded draft of weight :----------------------0.17kg
Total weight of parcel :-----------------------0.32kg
Colour of Parcel :-----------------------------Brown










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 most convenient of the two.

The options, together with their associated conditions are presented below:

Option 1: COURIER DELIVERY
Courier of your winning details to you via any of this channel listed below:

OVERSEAS COURIERS
Mailing £175.00 00.00 Insurance £400.00 00.00 Vat (5%) £176.75 00.00 TOTAL £751.75 00.00
(Same Day) 24.Hrs

OVERSEAS COURIERS
Mailing &n bsp £190.00 00.00 Insurance £300.00 00.00 Vat (5%) £198.95 00.00 TOTAL £699.95 00.00
(2 working days)

OVERSEAS COURIERS
Mailing £178.00 00.00 Insurance £300.00 00.00 Vat (5%) £135.45 00.00 TOTAL £613.45 00.00
(4Working days)

Option 2: BANK TRANSFER CHARGES

The said amount claim £250,000 (two hundred and fifty thousand pound sterling)will be wired to your bank account via swift bank transfer under the Condition that: The cost of COT (commission of transfer)Being charged by our transferring bank is (£1,470 GBP) of the cash being transferred will be paid by you.

Note: That your prize is protected by a hardcover insurance policy by LETTY LAW FIRM UK, 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.

Please 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. Get back to us as soon as possible.

Regards
Dispatch Officer
MR DARREN ANDERSON
TEL:+44-701-112-8697
TEL:+44-704-573-4715
TEL:+44-703-191-6845
Fax:+44-870-068-6467

OVERSEAS COURIER SERVICE©

You are welcome to Overseas couriers©





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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam