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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:

• An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "million pounds" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
  • "00,000.00" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
  • "u.k " (this email uses bad English)
• 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 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.
  • citygoldfinances@netscape.net (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "Mrs. Keren Fritz" <citygoldsfinance@aim.com>
Date: Fri, 16 Nov 2007 09:16:51 +1200
Subject:




UNITED KINGDOM LOTTO
20 Craven Park,
E3 10NW,
Harlesden London,
United Kingdom.

REF NO: MSW/56B-672GH/L
BATCH: 4583JL/WIN

We the U.K LOTTO wish to Inform you that your Lottery winning of
£1.000.000 (One Million Pounds Sterling) which you won on the U.K LOTTO
August 2007 Award has been returned to us by our Lotto claims agent as
unclaimed prize after their initial letter to your email address for your
award claim was not successful.

Note that all participants in this program were selected randomly through
our Computer Ballot System, drawn from 85.000.000 internet users from all
search engines. Your e-mail address was picked by the automated Computer
Ballot System, which was programmed for this random selection.

Your E-mail address attached to WINNER NUMBER 4, with serial Number:
7741137002 and drew the lucky numbers: 23-76-06-54-42-100, Ref
No.UKL/56B-672GH/L and Batch No: 4583JL/WIN which consequently won in the
3rd lottery category. You have therefore been approved for lump sum pay of
£1.000.000(One Million Pounds Sterling) credited to file REF NO:
UKL/56B-672GH/L. This is from the total prize money of £8,800,000.00 which
is to be shared among the international lucky winners in this category.

These Draws are commemorative and as such special to encourage the use of
Computers and Internet worldwide.

No Ticket was sold for these Lottery award.

Having returned your unclaimed award funds back to our treasury by our
Lotto claims agent, we write to officially give you the last chance to claim
your award. We advise you to contact our Claims Agent immediately upon
receipt of this message by means of email or phone for more information
concerning the verification, processing and payment of the above prize to
you.
***************************************************************************
**
MR. FRED MARTEN
CITY GOLD BUREAU
Email: citygoldfinances@netscape.net
***************************************************************************
**
You are hereby advise to keep your winning information confidential from
the public, until you have received your cash prize. This is part of our
security protocol to avoid double claiming and the act of hacking people off
their prizes. Be advised to furnish him with the followings upon your
contact with him.

1. Reference No:
2. Batch No:
3. Your Name:
4.Telephone/Number(s)
5. Nationality.

Thanks.

Yours Faithfully,

Mrs. Keren Fritz
Coordinator(Prize Award Dept.)

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam