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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

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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:
  • "22 garden close, stamford" (address often used in fake lottery scams)
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "money laundering" ("anti-terrorist", "anti-money laundering" or "drug-free" certificates are a common way for criminals in fake lottery scams and other Advance Fee scams to get you to send money to them. There are no such certificates in the real banking world. )
  • "deadline" (they are rushing you so you don't have time to think properly)
  • "affidavit " (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
  • "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.
  • +448704780618 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
  • +447864096907
• 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.
  • glblxpresscourier@yahoo.co.uk

Fraud email example:

From: "Mr. Matthew Lore" <matthewlore003@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2007 20:30:28 +0100 (BST)
Subject: Contact Of Your Choice


THE LOTTERY DEPARTMENT
Volkswagen Automobiles
22 Garden Close, Stamford, Lincs, PE9 2YP, London
United Kingdom
Date:09-07-2007

REF: VM:12052007/21
BATCH: x7pwyz2007

Dear Winner,

Congratulations once again.

The details you provided in your winning claim form which was made available to us has been attached to other documents, and other vital important information regarding your claim. If there is any change in Address and Name, Please inform us Asap. This means that you have been officially cleared for payment by the Verifications Dept. at the headquarters
of the Volkswagen Automobiles Lottery Department.

The original copy of this certificate will be sent to you tomorrow {please keep it well and also tender the document to the bank or courier service for identification}. The covering document (Money Laundering protection and Letter of Affidavit for Claims) from the British government stating that the money was obtained legally through the Volkswagen Automobiles Lottery along side with your cheque and your vehicle documents will be sent to you as soon as you meet with the CRITERIA.
Note:Participants were selected through a computer ballot system drawn from a pool of over 250,000 names of distinguished professionals drawn from Europe, America, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Middle-East, parts of Africa, and North & South America as part of our international promotions programme conducted annually to encourage prospective costumers.

You are to choose your delivery option on how you want to recieve your funds from the options provided below and immidiately send us your recieving informations:

Option 1: IF YOU PREFER COURIER TRANSFER BY CHEQUE
Courier of your winning draft to you via GLOBAL EXPRESS COURIER SERVICE
Contact Name: Mr. Sly Jones
Phone: +44-786-409-6907
Fax: +44-870-478-0618
Email: glblxpresscourier@yahoo.co.uk

Option 2: BANK TRANSFER
The said amount claim 500,000.00 GBP. (will be wired to your online bank account via swift online bank transfer within 12hrs. Contact the bank through the details below:

BANK NAME: MARITIME BANKING SERVICES PLC
CONTACT PERSON:Margret O'neil
Cooperate Account Officer
Direct tel: 01144-77-8302-9706
Fax: +448704792699
Email:admin@maritimebankingsrvc.com

WE DO NOT ACCEPT ANY OTHER MEANS OF PRICE PAYMENTS ORDER THAN THE ABOVE MENTIONED TWO FOR
SECURITY REASONS.

You are expected to keep me regularly updated till you recieve your prize because I am only responsible for the FREE SHIPMENT of your brand new car. It is a policy that we only ship the car after winnings delivery confirmation from the bank or courier service, to enable winner(s) have funds for vehicle clearance in their country.

Note that your prize is 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 any charges(if any) 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 OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS, this is to protect winners and to avoid misappropration of funds.

Also be reminded that the deadline for the claiming of winnings is exactly one week after the receipt of this email. After this period, your cash prize and your car will be deemed to have been forfeited by you and will be reused in the drawings of the next edition of the lottery.

Please respond to this email by making a selection from the Two options above.Your details have been sent to the bank and courier company, they may contact you if there is no response from you within 7 days.
Also attach a scanned copy of either your driver's licence, international passport (photo page) or any other legally identifying document.
In the event that you are not satisfied with our policy please write a letter of DISCLAIMER to this box immediately.
Good luck and Congratulations once again.
Please send your response within the next 24hrs to this same email address.

Best regards,
Mathew Lore


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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam