419 scam: "The National Lottery"<ukprizedept@national-lottery.co.uk> Ref No: K4K009

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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

The so-called "419" scam is a type of fraud dominated by criminals from Nigeria and other countries in Africa. Victims of the scam are promised a large amount of money, such as a lottery prize, inheritance, money sitting in some bank account, etc.

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.

Keep in mind that scammers DO NOT use their real names when defrauding people.
The criminals either abuse names of real people or companies or invent names or addresses.
Any real people or companies mentioned below have NO CONNECTION to the scammers!

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:

This email uses a separate reply address that is different from the sender address. Spammers use this to get replies even when the original spam sending accounts have been shut down. Also, sometimes the sender addresses are legitimate looking but fake and only the reply address is actually an email account controlled by the scammers.
The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "claim agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "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)
- "you are advice to " (this email uses bad English)
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.
- hrnton1@hotmail.co.uk (Hotmail, United Kingdom; can be used from anywhere worldwide)

Fraud email example:

From: "The National Lottery" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <tnatlot001@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 1 Nov 2009 17:10:05 -0000
Subject: Ref No: K4K009

Your email address has luckily won our online draw and you are hereby entitled to claim the sum of GBP1, 000,000.00 (One Million Great British Pounds) credited to file Ref No: K4K009 with Serial number 1102/9, Batch number 0923/UK09, Ticket number 09, 22, 88, 20, 18, 07 (12) Bonus Ball.
Mr. Harrington (Claim agent)
Fax: 0044 870 068 1454
hrnton1@hotmail.co.uk
Prize claim expiration date: (10th November 2009)
For security reasons, you are advised to keep your winning information confidential until your claim is processed and your money remitted to you in whatever manner you deem fit to receive your prize. All prizes must be claimed before the expiration date. You are advice to quote your Ref and Batch numbers to your claim agent in order to avoid unnecessary delays and complications.
Congratulations!
Sincerely,
Online Lotto-coordinator (The National Lottery)

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam