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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.
• 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.
  • verapayout01@yahoo.com.hk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: (sent from abused email account)
Reply-To: verapayout01@yahoo.com.hk
Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2008 18:25:00 GMT
Subject: {Spam!}




British Lottery Headquarters:
Customer Service.
41 CHALK FARM ROAD, LONDON, UK
Ref: BTL/491OXI/04
Batch: 12/25/0304

Your email has won you $2.5 Million USD (Two million, five hundred thousand, United States Dollars) contact our agent with the below details for claims.

AGENT: Vera Southgate
Email: verapayout01@yahoo.com.hk
Please provide her with your details such as:
Name:
Age:
Sex:
Address:
Nationality:
Occupation:
Phone Numbers:
Annual Income:
Email:

YOU ARE ADVISED TO CONTACT HER VIA EMAIL IMMEDIATELY YOU GET THIS
NOTIFICATION

To avoid unnecessary delays and complications, quote your
reference/batch numbers in any correspondences with us or
our designated agent. Congratulations once more.

Faithfully,

Julius Pennant Esq.
Secretary General
British Lottery Board

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam