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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:
  • "uk national lottery" (can only win this lottery if you bought a ticket)
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "fiduciary agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • ",000,000" (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)
• 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.
  • johncook_agent@yahoo.co.uk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "UK NATIONAL LOTTERY" <uknationall21@googlemail.com>
Date: Thu, 26 Jun 2008 13:36:02 +0100
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS


The National Lottery
P O Box 1010
London, L70 1NL
UNITED KINGDOM
(Customer Services) 21th June-2008
Ref: UK/9420X2/68
Batch: 074/06/ZY369

WINNING NOTIFICATION:

We happily announce to you the draw (#450) of the UK NATIONAL
LOTTERY, online Sweepstakes International program held on Wednesday 21th
June 2008.
Your e-mail address attached to ticket number: 56475600545 188
with Serial number 5368/02 drew the lucky numbers: 15-18-23-31-37-49 bonus
number 38,
which subsequently won you the lottery in the 1st category i.e. match 5
and bonus prize.
You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of £948,247.00
(Nine Hundred and Forty Eight Thousand Two Hundred and Forty Seven Pounds
Sterling Only) in cash/check credited to file KTU/9023118308/03.
This is from a total cash prize of £5,299,849.00 Shared amongst the
first seven lucky winners in this category i.e. Prize for six balls.
All participants for the online version were selected randomly from a
World Wide Web sites through a computer draw system and extracted from
over 1,000,000 unions, associations, and corporate bodies that are
listed online. This promotion takes place Periodically.
Please note that your lucky winning number falls within our UK booklet
representative office .In view of this, your claims of £948,247.00
(Nine Hundred and Forty Eight Thousand Two Hundred and Forty Seven Pounds
Sterling Only) would be released to you by any of our payment
offices in UK.
Our UK agent will immediately commence the process to facilitate the
release of your funds as soon as you contact him.
For security reasons, you are advised to keep your winning information
confidential till your claim is processed and your money remitted to
you in whatever manner you deem fit to claim your prize.
This is part of our precautionary measure to avoid double claiming and
unwarranted abuse of this program. Please be warned.

To file for your claim, please contact our fiduciary agent:
Mr. John Cook.
Email: johncook_agent@yahoo.co.uk

Good luck from me and members of staff of the UK NATIONAL LOTTERY.
Yours faithfully,
Kermit Barker
Online coordinator for UK NATIONAL
LOTTERY,
Sweepstakes International Program.
Open 7 days 8am-8pm

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam