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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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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:
  • "international lottery programme" (no such lottery exists)
  • "uk national lottery" (can only win this lottery if you bought a ticket)
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • ",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.
  • +447075023151 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
  • +44772434772824

Fraud email example:

From: UK NATIONAL LOTTERY <award@millenniumdevelopmentgoals.uk.com>
Date: Wed, 27 Aug 2008 13:16:41 -0400
Subject: URGENT NOTIFICATION





From The UK National Lottery
20-24 St. Leonard's Road
Windsor SL4 3BB, United Kingdom
Great Britain.
Dear Prize Winner,
This is to inform you that you have been selected for a cash Price of 2,000,000 Euros from our International lottery programme held on the 26th of Aug, 2008 in the United Kingdom. The selection process was carried out through random selection in our computerized email selection system from a data base of over 250,000 email addresses drawn from various continents. Your e-mail address attached to ticket number 27522465896-6453 with serial number 3772-554, Ref. Number: 132/756/4509, Batch Number: 538901527-Bc68 drew lucky numbers 7-14-18-31-45 which consequently won in the 2nd category, you have therefore been approved for a lump sum pay out of 2,000,000 Euros (Two million Euros only).
To file for your claim, please contact our (EU) foreign operations manager:
Name: Mr. David Grant
David Grant and Assocates
Email: davidgrant@law-associates.org
Tel: +44-7724347728 (24hrs)
Fax: +44 7075023151
For payment, please do provide with the following informations:
1. Full Names:
2. Address:
3. Age:
4. Sex:
5. Marital Status:
6. Occupation:
7. Country of Residence:
8. Nationality:
9. Telephone Number:
10. Fax Number:
Congratulations once more from our members of staff and thank you for being part of our promotional program.
Yours Sincerely,
Ms. Annie Van Kijk (co-ordinator)
Material Copyright © 2008 UK National Lottery. All Rights Reserved.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam