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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:

• An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
• The following fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
  • "british lottery international" (no such lottery exists)
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "fiduciary agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "million dollars" (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)
  • ",500,000" (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)
  • "00,000.00" (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.
  • +447045746993 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
• This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
  • nic_harrisdu@hotmail.co.uk
  • nicmanharris@googlemail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "Candace Smith" <canmsmit@utm.edu>
Date: Mon, 8 Sep 2008 06:51:08 -0500
Subject: WINNING NOTIFICATION

British Lottery Headquarters:
Customer Service
28 princes avenue ,
HULL, YORKSHIRE
Ref: BTL/491OXI/04
Batch: 12/25/0304

WINNING NOTIFICATION

We happily announce to you the draw of the British Lottery International
programs held on the 19th of Aug 2008 in London . Your e-mail address attached
to ticket number: 564 75600545 188 with Serial number 5388/02 drew the lucky
numbers: 31-6-26-13-35-7, which subsequently won you the lottery in the 2nd
category. You are therefore, been approved to claim a total sum of
US$2,500,000.00 (Two million, five hundred thousand, United States Dollars) in
cash credited to file KPC/9080118308/02.This is from a total cash prize of US
$125 Million dollars, shared amongst the first Fifty (50) lucky winners in this
category.
This year Lottery Program Jackpot is the largest ever for British Lottery. The
estimated $125 million jackpot would be the sixth-biggest in U.K. history. The
biggest was the $363 million jackpot that went to two winners in a May 2000
drawing of The Big Game, Mega Millions' predecessor.
Please note that your lucky winning numbers falls within our European booklet
representative office in Europe as indicated in our play coupon. In view of
this, your US$2,500,000.00 (Two million, five hundred thousand, United States
Dollars) would be released to you by our affiliate bank in London .
Our agent will immediately commence the process to facilitate the release of
your funds to you as soon as you make contact with her.
All participants were selected randomly from World Wide Web site through
computer draw system and extracted from over 100,000 companies; no tickets were
required to enter. This promotion takes place annually. For security reasons,
you are advised to keep your winning information confidential till your claims
is processed and your money remitted to you in whatever manner you deem fit to
claim your prize. This is a part of our precautionary measure to avoid double
claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program by some unscrupulous elements.
Please Note. To file for your claim, please contact our fiduciary agent with
the below details for processing of your claims.
AGENT: Mr Nic Harris
Email: nic_harrisdu@hotmail.co.uk
nicmanharris@googlemail.com
Customer care: Tel- +44 704 574 6993
+44 702 405 5426
To avoid unnecessary delays and complications, please quote your
reference/batch numbers in any correspondences with us or our designated agents.
Congratulations once more from all members and staffs of this program. Thank you
for being part of our promotional lottery program.
Sincerely,
JOSEPH ANDERS.
International Coordinator.


PS
DO NOT USE THE REPLY FEATURE AS THE MAIL WOULD NOT BE RECEIVED BECAUSE THIS MAIL BOX IS UNUSED. WRITE TO THE AGENTS EMAIL ADDRESS GIVEN
AGENT: Mr Nic Harris
Email: nic_harrisdu@hotmail.co.uk
nicmanharris@googlemail.com

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam