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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:

• 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:
  • "from: the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • "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)
  • "u.k " (this email uses bad English)
  • "barrister" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
  • "cheque " (Beware of any scheme that involves cashing checks or money orders and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere - you'll be liable for the entire amount if the checks or money orders turn out to be fake, even after you have received and forwarded cash. If it's a lottery prize, remember that real lotteries do not pay large prizes by check. They wire the money directly to your bank account and you do not pay for that. Many scammers promise a large check only in order to then demand payment of courier fees for a fake courier service. )
• 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.
• 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.
  • +447045782627 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: "Donell HOLLOWAY" <d.holloway@ecu.edu.au>
Date: Wed, 9 Jul 2008 07:36:36 +0800
Subject: YOU ARE A PRIZE WIINNER! CONTACT OUR CLAIM AGENT (ukclientclaims1996@live.com )



The U.K. National Lottery
12 Bridge Street,
Staines Middlesex TW18 4TP
United Kingdom.

FROM: THE DESK OF THE DIRECTOR PROMOTIONS,
INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS/ Claims Department,
Ref: Uk/9420X2/68
Batch: 074/05/ZY369

Dear Award Winner,



WINNING NOTIFICATION


We happily announce to you the draw (Draw #08/149) of the UK NATIONAL LOTTERY, online

Sweepstakes International Program held on 23rd june 2008.

Your e-mail address, attached to ticket number: 56475600546 184 with Serial number 5364/08
drew the lucky numbers


Which subsequently made you one of the lucky dip prizes winners.You have therefore been

approved to claim a total sum of £2,214,747.00 (TWO MILLION TWO HUNDRED AND FOURTEEN

THOUSAND SEVEN HUNDRED AND FORT1Y SEVEN GBP ) in cash credited to file KTU/9023118308/03.

This is from a total cash prize of £6,644,241.00 (SIX MILLION SIX HUNDRED AND FORTY FOUR

THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED AND FORTY ONE GBP), shared amongst the THREE (3) lucky winners in this

category.

All participants were selected randomly from World Wide Web through a computer draw system

and extracted from over 1,000,000 unions, associations, and corporate bodies that are
listed online.

Please note that your lucky winning number falls within our European booklet representative

office in Europe as indicated in your play coupon. In view of this, your £2,214,747.00 (TWO

MILLION TWO HUNDRED AND FOURTEEN THOUSAND SEVEN HUNDRED AND FORTY SEVEN GBP) would be

released to you by any of our payment offices in Europe.

Our European 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 via email:

Barrister. Christ Whale
Foreign Services Manager,
Payment and Release order Department,
Insurance & Claims Consultants.
TRANS-ATLANTIC S.A LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM.
Email: ukclientclaims1996@live.com
Tel: +(44) 704 578 2627

with the following vital information:

Full Names
Physical Address:
Age:
Sex:
Marital status:
numbers:
Batch number:.
Amount won:
Phone number{land/mobile}:

Mode of payment (a) Cheque (b) certified Draft (c) bank to bank transfer, if chosen option

(c) provide account details below

......................................................................

......................................................................

....................................................................

So that he can commence the process of your funds remittance.

Once again congratulations from the entire staff of the U.K NATIONAL LOTTERY.

Warm regards,
David Clark.
Online Coordinator
U.K. National Lottery.





This e-mail is confidential. If you are not the intended recipient you must not disclose or use the information contained within. If you have received it in error please return it to the sender via reply e-mail and delete any record of it from your system. The information contained within is not the opinion of Edith Cowan University in general and the University accepts no liability for the accuracy of the information provided.

CRICOS IPC 00279B

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam