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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:
  • "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • ",000,000" (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.
  • +447035997959 (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.
  • claimsdepartmentbnl@yahoo.co.uk

Fraud email example:

From: (sent from abused email account)
Reply-To: claimsdeptbnl@live.com
Date: Wed, 08 Jul 2009 20:00:05 -0400
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS...CONTACT CLAIMS DEPARTMENT


REF No:BNL-L/200-26937
BATCH No:2005MJL-01
TICKET No:20511465463-7644
SERIAL No:S/N-00168
LUCKY No: 887-13-865-37-10-83

FINAL NOTIFICATION

This is to inform you that you have been selected for a cash prize of £1,000,000.00 (British Pounds) held on the 8th of July 2009 in London Uk.The selection process was carried out through random selection in our computerized email selection system(ess) from a database of over 250,000 email addresses drawn from which you were selected.

Most winners wanders how they won, without entering for the lottery program, winners do not need to register this lottery, its a program conducted by use of email balloting, this means that your email was selected as one of the lucky emails that has been approved to claim the said amount through your appointed claims agent.

Please contact our claims agent;
Mr. Terry Morgan (Claim Dept Director)
E-mail: claimsdepartmentbnl@yahoo.co.uk
TEL: +44-703-599-7959

Provide him with the information below:
1.Full Name:
2.Full Address:
3.Marital Status:
4.Occupation:
5.Age:
6.Sex:
7.Nationality:
8.Country Of Residence:
9.Telephone Number:

Sincerely,
Mrs. Katherine Preseren
British National Lotto Company

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam