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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:
  • "fiduciary agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "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.
  • +447045741496 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: KELVIN MILLER <claimsagent_pbdelivery@yahoo.com.hk>
Date: Sat, 15 Sep 2007 18:30:33 +0800 (CST)
Subject: HOW DO YOU WANT TO RECEIVE YOUR PARCLE


POWER BALL LOTTERY INTERNATIONAL
Reference/Ticket No:PBL-CB7853627
Attn: Winner,



Power Ball Lottery Fund Claims Process

I am Mr.Kelvin Miller, the fiduciary agent assigned to your case to help you in the claims process of your funds. I wish to congratulate you and to say you are a lucky person to have won this lottery. All the winners in the Lottery were selected by an advanced automated random computer ballot search from the internet as part of our international promotions program which we conduct every year.No tickets were sold.

My office has received your provided information for the claims of your awarded prize of 500,000.00 (Five Hundred Thousand Pounds) awarded You by the prestigious Power Ball Lottery Games Board and We have forwarded the same information to our verifications department for the perusal and confirmation that You are the actual beneficiary of the prize amount.

You are almost at the final step in receiving your winnings, Below are two options for you to claim your winning prize, you are to choose the one that is most convinient for you.

1.You can come down in person, to (Power Ball Office) here in the UK to claim your winnings.
Note that you have 4 weeks to be able to come down to the (Power Ball Office) for your winnings here in UK, this is done simply because of security reasons.

2.We could forward your winning cheque to you along with the certificate,via a courier company to handle the delivery to you at your location so that you can cash the winning cheque once you receive it.

Note that this courier company will require you to pay a very small amount of money, this money will be for the delivery cost to enable them deliver your winnings to you in any way you would want them to.

This cheque can be cash from any bank of your choice.

I will send you the contact information of the payment office after you have chosen any of the above options so we can proceed with effecting the release of your winning cheque.

Yours Faithfully,
Mr Kelvin Miller
Power Ball Delivery Officer
+44 704 574 1496



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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam