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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
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• 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.

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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:
  • "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
• 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.
  • wilsonclaimsagwilson@gmail.com

Fraud email example:

From: (sent from abused email account)
Reply-To: <claimsagwilson@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 24 Oct 2008 16:16:09 +0000
Subject: UK NATIONAL LOTTERY






WINNING NOTIFICATIONRef: UK/8620X2/96Batch: 094/05/Z369 Dear Winner, We happily announce to you the draw of the UK NATIONAL LOTTERY, on line Sweeps takes International program on charity bonanza. Your e-mail address attached to ticket number: 75475600545 788 with Serial number 9068/02 drew the lucky numbers: 09 12 23 26 29 44 32Winning Numbers Breakdown Bonus Ball, Bonus Ball [37] which subsequently won you the lottery in the 2nd category i.e match 5 plus bonus.

In view of this, your £350,000 (Three hundred and fifty thousand pounds sterling) would be released
to you by any of our payment offices in Europe.Our European agent will immediately commence the process to facilitate the release of your funds as soon as you contact him. You may wish to establish contact via e-mail with the particulars presented above citing the batch and reference numbers to this letter.Provide the following information needed to process your winning claim.(a) Your full Name and Address.(b) Your Telephone no and fax number.(c) Your tax I.D.Number (if any).(d) Your country of origin.(e) Your status.Our winners are assured of the utmost standards of confidentiality, and press anonymity until the end of proceedings and beyond where they so desire. Be further advised to maintain the strictest level of confidentiality until the end of proceedings to circumvent problems associated with fraudulent claims. This is part of our precautionary measure to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program.Good luck from me and members of staff of the UK NATIONAL LOTTERY. Yours faithfully,Jerry Morphy.On line coordinator for UK NATIONAL LOTTERYPlease contact our claims agent:Dr. George Wilsonclaimsagwilson@gmail.com

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam