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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:
  1 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
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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.

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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:
  • "uk national lottery" (can only win this lottery if you bought a ticket)
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "claims office" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
• 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.
  • +447045724651 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
  • +664 (Thailand, probably a mobile phone)

Fraud email example:

From: UK NATIONAL LOTTERY <viviankelly56@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: <agentkevindavies.2007promooffice@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Sun, 4 Nov 2007 19:35:27 +0000
Subject: ATTN WINNER:::


THE DESK OF THE DIRECTOR PROMOTIONS,INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS/PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT,THE NATIONAL LOTTERYMORTIMER HOUSE ,MORTIMER STREET,LONDON, W1T3JHUNITED KINGDOMRef: UK/9420X2/68Batch: 074/05/ZY369Lucky Numbers: 03,08,20,22,34,40 Bonus Number 38 ATTENTION: WINNER,We are pleased to inform you of the final announcement of the UK National Lottery end of the year Online Promotion held recently on the month of November, 2007.This is the last as we are about distributing winnings to winners. Your email address was attached to Reference Number UK/9420X2/68 and you are a lucky winner of £ 2,462,462(TWO MILLION,FOUR HUNDRED AND SIXTY-TWO THOUSAND,FOUR HUNDRED AND SIXTY-TWO POUNDS) in cash credited to file KTU/9023118308/03. You are hereby required to contact your CLAIMS OFFICER with below details for your winning funds.ASSIGNED CLAIMS AGENT:MR KEVIN DAVIESEmail:agentkevindavies.2007promooffice@yahoo.co.ukTel: +44 70457 24651Fax: +44 70058 00664VERIFICATION AND FUNDS RELEASE FORMFULL NAMES :AGE:SEX:ADDRESS:COUNTRY:MARITAL STATUS:OCCUPATION:PHONE NUMBER:FAX NUMBER:LUCKY NUMBER :REF NUMBER:Congratulations from all our staff for being part of UK2007 LOTTERY PROGRAM.Sincerely,Vivian Kelly (Mrs)ONLINE CO-ORDINATOR
_________________________________________________________________
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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam