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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
• Support our efforts to stop scams!
  
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• What can you do when you receive 419 spam
  
  
• Spam archive, Daily index
  

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:
  • "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")
  • "barrister" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
  • "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!
• Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.

Fraud email example:

From: nationallotteryonline@mchsi.com (ANNE WRIGHT)
Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2007 01:09:11 +0000
Subject: Reference Number: UK/940X2/68

The UK National Lottery
P. O. Box 10101 Liverpool L70 1NL
Reference Number: UK/940X2/68

We are happy to announce to you that your email address has won you the sum of
£750,000.00 in cash on our draw of 7th of October, credited to file
KTU/9023118308/03. The draw was done electronically with several email
addresses provided to this office by Microsoft to enhance the utilization of
the internet. To File for your Claims Contact the claims agent Barr. Fredrick
Wells via email: fredrickwells@uk-national-e-lottery.com with the following
details; Name: Address: Country of Residence: Age: Sex: Occupation: Telephone
Number:

Contact Barrister Fredrick Wells via email: fredrickwells@uk-national-e-
lottery.com for more information regarding the procedure for claiming your
prize.

Congratulations once again on behalf of the Staff and Management of UK
National Lottery

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam