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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
• Support our efforts to stop scams!
  
• How to report 419 spam to us
• What can you do when you receive 419 spam
  
  
• Spam archive, Daily index
  

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:
  • "fiduciary 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!

Fraud email example:

From: (sent from abused email account)
Reply-To: <stellabrown1973@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 08:12:51 +0000
Subject: WINNING NOTIFICATION



Customer ServiceRef: UK/9420X2/68Batch: 074/05/ZY369 We
happily announce to you the draw of the UK-LOTTO Sweep stake Lottery
International program held on 18th October 2008 In LEEDS UNITED
KINGDOM.Your
e-mail address was attached to ticket number: 56475600545 188 and
Serial number 5368/02 drew the lucky numbers:03-10-12-30-39-40-23Which
subsequently won you the lottery in the 2nd Category You have therefore
been approved to claim a total sum of US$854,000 (Eight hundred and
fifty four Thousand United States Dollars)To file for your claim, Please contact our fiduciary agent: MRS JUDITH ELLIOTelliotjudith40@yahoo.deYou can go to our online result site to confirm the Value of you Winnings and also get a prize breakdown: -http://www.national-lottery.com/results.asp Thank you for being part of our promotional lottery program.Sincerely,STELLA BROWN
UK-LOTTERY COORDINATOR

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam