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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:
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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:
  • "claims office" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "barr." (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
• 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.
  • +447045740565 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: Uk Claims Dept <claimsagtbarrlarrybrain@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Mon, 27 Aug 2007 14:46:28 +0100 (BST)
Subject: VERIFICATION FORM



VERIFICATION FORM

Dear Winner,

Congratulations once again from all the staff here. You are a winner of our online lottery You have therefore been approved for a lump sum pay out of £852,000,00 (Eight hundred and fifty-two thousand pounds sterling) in cash credited to In order to verify your winnings, we need your particulars for record purposes, Attached here is a copy of our verifications form, please fill accordingly so as to proceed with your winnings. Once again congratulations from all the staff.

VERIFICATION FORM

1.FULL NAMES:__________________________________
2.ADDRESS:_____________________________________________
____________________________________________
3.SEX:_______________
4.AGE:________
5.MARITAL STATUS:___________________
6.OCCUPATION:________________________
7.E-MAIL ADDRESS:_____________________________
8.TELEPHONE NUMBER:_____________________
9.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF COMPANY/INDIVIDUAL____________
___________________________________________
10. COUNTRY________________________________


All participants of this online promotion programme were selected randomly from numerous World Wide Web sites through computer draw system and extracted from close to 125,000 unions, associations and corporate bodies listed online. This promotion takes place quarterly.

For security reasons, you are advised to keep your winning information confidential till your claim is processed and your money remitted to you in whatever manner you deem fit to claim your prize. This is part of our precautionary measure to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program. Please be warned.

Furthermore, should there be any change of your address, do inform your claims officer as soon as possible.


Thank you for being part of our online promotional lottery program.

Barr. Larry Brain
Claims Department
The UKNL Foundation
For More Info Call:+44 70457 40565



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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam