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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:

• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "claim agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "will come to you as a surprise" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
• 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 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.
  • ukclaimsunit@gmail.com

Fraud email example:

From: "Mrs. Maria Johnson" <objednavky@ceskykuryr.cz>
Reply-To: ukclaimsunit@gmail.com
Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2008 00:29:55 GMT
Subject: PowerBall E-mail Promotion(You Have Won 500,000.00 Punds)




Power Ball E-mail Promotion
Power Ball House Prescott
London E1 8RP,
United Kingdom.
Ref: ldn/5563/40/06/uk
Batch: mcst/11/836/52dn/uk
Award: ldn/56/7762
Ticket: ldn/553/26/97
Serial: ldn/006/4656/uk.

It is obvious that this notification will come to you as a surprise but please find time to read it carefully as we congratulate you over your success in the following official publication of results of the E-mail electronic online Sweepstakes held yesterday, organized by PowerBall London UK, in conjunction with the foundation for the promotion of software products F.P.S where in your electronic email address emerged as one of the online winning emails in the 2nd category and therefore attracted a cash award of 500.000.00 GBP Your file falls in our LondonWe write to officially notify you of this award and to advise you to contact the processing department immediately upon the receipt of this message for more information concerning the verification, processing and for immediate payment of the above prize to you.It is important to note that your award information was released with the following particulars attached to it.Claim verification Form:

Full Name(s)...
Address:.......
Country:.......
Phone no:......Fax: no:......
Gender:.......your category....
Marital Status:
Age:...........Amount won:.....
Occupation:............
Email Address:..........
Batch no:...............
Award no:...............
Ticket no:.............
Serial no:.............
Ref. no:...............

To file for your claim, Please contact your Claim Agent for more information of your winning within 14 working days of this winning notification. Winnings that are not claimed within fourteen working days of this winning notification are termed void and invalid. You are required to mention the above particulars of your award in every correspondence to enable your Agent in London validate your winning.Contact your Agent now:

Name: Mr. Martins Ford.
PowerBall House Prescott
London E1 8RP
United Kingdom
Email: ukclaimsunit@gmail.com


N/B: All Winnings must be claimed not later than 14 days; thereafter all unclaimed prizes would indefinitely be annulled!On behalf of all our staff, we say CONGRATULATIONS!

Yours Faithfully
Maria Johnson.
Secretary Power Ball E-mail Promotion.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam