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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
• Support our efforts to stop scams!
  
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• What can you do when you receive 419 spam
  
  
• 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 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")
  • "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)
  • ",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 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.
  • +447031942862 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
  • +448704796344 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: Mr Larry White <larry.whitedesk@hotmail.com>
Date: Mon, 18 Aug 2008 10:34:41 +0000
Subject: Congratulations Lucky Winner,



The UK National LotteryThemes mead,London, L70 1NL,United Kingdom.P.O Box 1010. Fax: +44- 870-479-6344Tel: +44-703-194-2862Congratulations Lucky Winner,Your email has just been received in this office(Winning verifications department) and all contents has been noted. But be rest asured that is can never be a scam, your winning is approved by the British Government and all participants for the online version were selected randomly from World Wide Web sites through computer draw system and extracted from over 100,000 unions, associations, and corporate bodies that are listed online as part of our international promotion program, which you are extremely lucky to be one of our winner for the month and therefore have been approved to claim a total sum of £1,000,000 ( One Million pounds sterling). To proceed with your winnings,Your verification particulars is needed to verify your winnings and proceed with your claims,You are to fill the verification form below and return,because there is a time limit to claim your winnings, after which you will forfeit it, and your funds will be remitted to the UK National Lottery Headquarters. Here is the verification form below; VERIFICATION AND FUND RELEASE FORMFull Names:Present Address:Present Country:Telephone No:Email Address:Occupation.:Age.:Gender.:Nationality.:Amount Won: Once again Congratulations from the members and staff of THE UK NATIONAL LOTTERY.Yours Sincerely,Mr. Larry whiteAccredited Fiduciary Agent.
_________________________________________________________________
Make a mini you on Windows Live Messenger!
http://clk.atdmt.com/UKM/go/107571437/direct/01/

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam