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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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• What can you do when you receive 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:
  • "camelot lottery" (no such lottery exists)
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "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!

Fraud email example:

From: The National Lottery <info@uk.com> (may be fake)
Reply-To: lotlondonresultuk1@msn.com
Date: Sun, 13 Jul 2008 11:49:20 -0500
Subject: UPDATE !!

INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS/PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT,
REF NO: MELI-T/17-F044262312

Dear Winner,


We are pleased to announce to you as one of the 6 lucky
winners in the CAMELOT LOTTERY PROMOTIONS held on 12th of
July,2008. All 6 winning email addresses were randomly
selected from a batch of 40,000 international emails. Your
email address emerged alongside 5 others as a 2nd category
winner in this quarterly draw. Consequently, you have been approved
for a total pay out of £1,173,072 (One million, one hundred and
seventy three thousand,seventy two pounds sterlings) only.

The following particulars are attached to your lottery
payment order:

(i) Winning numbers: 990-11-815-37-10-83
(ii) Email ticket number: 901-0148-790-691
(iii) Lotto Batch No. 13/FFP/LDL/037
(IV) File REF NO: MELI-T/17-F044262312

Please contact our under listed claims attorney as soon as
possible for immediate release of your winnings. You have to
fill this verification form below and sent it to our Lottery Agent

1.Name.
2.Address.
3.Nationality.
4.Age.
5.Sex.
6.Occupation.
7.Phone/Fax.
8.Amount Won.
9.Choose your claims option.(1)Courier(2)Bank Transfer

Lottery Agent; Barr. Cerutti Martins
Email: claimsdepts_3365_443@live.com

Once again on behalf of all our staff, CONGRATULATIONS!
Sincerely,
Mrs.Susan Moore.
LOTTERY COORDINATOR,
INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS.
PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT, UK

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam