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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 fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
  • "british lottery international" (no such lottery exists)
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "fiduciary 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)
  • ",500,000" (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)
• 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.
  • +447045788272 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
• 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.
  • enquiry.susanedwards@uk2.net (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: info.btl2008@comcast.net (BTL 2008)
Date: Tue, 22 Apr 2008 00:03:18 +0000
Subject: Notification

British Lottery Headquarters:
Customer Service
28 TANFIELD ROAD,
CROYDON,LONDON.
Ref: BTL/491OXI/04
Batch: 12/25/0304

ATTENTION.
We announce to you the draw of the British Lottery International
programs held Saturday 19th of April 2008 in London.Your
e-mail address with serial number 5388/02 drew the lucky
numbers:31-6-26-13-35-7,which subsequently won you the lottery
in the 2nd category.You have been approved to claim a total sum
of 2,500,000.00 GBP(Two million, five hundred thousand Pounds) in
cash credited to file RPC/9080118308/04 made available from a
total cash prize of 125 Million Pounds.

You were randomly selected for the online version from world wide
websites through a computer draw system extracted from over
100,000 companies.Please note that your lucky winning number falls
within our european booklet representative office in Europe as
indicated in our play coupon.In view of this, your 2,500,000.00
(Two million, five hundredthousand,Pounds) would be released to you
by our affiliate bank in London as soon as you establish contact.

To file for your claim, contact our fiduciary agent via the below details;

AGENT:Susan Edwards
E-mail:enquiry.susanedwards@uk2.net
Call:+44-704-578-8272

Remember to quote your reference information in all correspondence.
You are to keep all lotto information away from the general public
especially your reference numbers.(This is important as a case of
double claims will not be entertained).Members of the affiliate
agencies are automatically not allowed to participate in this program.

CONGRATULATIONS FROM THE MEMBERS AND STAFF OF BRITISH LOTTERY INT'L.

Faithfully,
Micheal Ronin, Esq.
Zone Co-ordinator
for BRITISH LOTTERY.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam