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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
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• 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 phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
• 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.
  • +447031944691 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: "The National Lottery" <declan.quinn4@mail.dcu.ie>
Reply-To: cg.claimsdesk@live.com
Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2008 09:46:10 -0700
Subject: Prize Winning Email

The Camelot Group,:
Operators of The National Lottery.
3b Olympic Way, Sefton Business Park,
Aintree, Liverpool , L30 1RD
WINNING NOTIFICATION
The United Kingdom National Lottery wishes to inform you that the
results of the E-mail address ballot lottery international program by
Great
Britain 1306 held on Saturday 28th of June 2008, as part of weekly
promotions bonus. Your mail account have been
picked as a winner of a lump sum pay out of Eight hundred and ninty-one
thousand, nine hundred and thirty-four Great Britain pounds
(£891,934.00
pounds sterlings) in cash credited to file REF NO.
REF:UKL/74-A0802742008. This is from total prize money of GBP
£4,459,670.00 shared
among the FIVE (5) international winners in this category.
To begin your claim, please contact your Claims Agent:

Mr. Sean James.
Email:cg.claimsdesk@live.com
Tel:+447031944691
Fax:+44870 478 2022
FUNDS RELEASE FORM
1.FULL
NAMES:________2.ADDRESS:__________City________State_________Postcode___

___Country 3.TELEPHONE NUMBER:__________ 4.AGE:________5.OCCUPATION:

Note below your winning details:
Serial Nº: A069-07
Lotto Lucky No:07 12 19 23 46 48 Bonus 28
File REF Nº.: UKL/74-A0802742008
BATCH Nº.: 2008UKL-01

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam