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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.
• 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 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.
  • +27763141420 (South Africa, prepaid mobile phone)
• 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.
  • starcoinfinsec1@excite.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: sa2010lotto@easyinfomail.co.za
Date: Wed, 19 Apr 2006 16:59:52 +0200
Subject: NOTIFICATION OF YOUR LOTTERY WINNINGS

NOTIFICATION OF YOUR LOTTERY WINNINGS

We wish to inform you of the lottery draws held on the
18th of April
2006 to declare the winners of the Confederation of
African Football
(CAF) and South Africa Football Association (SAFA). This
lottery
scheme created to bring awareness to the world, being
that South Africa is hosting the next world cup in 2010.

Your email, attached to Ticket number
356-00098-3211-222, with Serial
number 818-09 drew the lucky numbers 67-99-777963 and
consequently won the
lottery. You have therefore been approved for a lump sum
pay out of
US$1,200,000.00 in cash credited to file REF NO:
SAFA/144132/1211.This
is from total prize money of US$12,000,000.00 shared
among the ten
international winners in this category.

All participants were selected through a computer ballot
system drawn
from 17,000 names from Australia, New Zealand, North
America, South
America, Europe and Middle East and Asia as part of our
International
Promotions Program, which is conducted every quarter of
the year.

To begin your claim process, please contact your Claims
Agent with
details below, providing your Serial and Reference
Numbers, Your Mailing Address, Telephone and Fax
Numbers.

WILLIAM DUBE
FIDUCIARY CLAIMS AGENT
STAR-COIN SECURITIES & FINANCE
500 OXFORD DRIVE
HYDE PARK
JOHANNESBURG
SOUTH AFRICA.
Tel: +27 76 314 1420
EMAIL: starcoinfinsec1@excite.com

Remember, all prize money must be claimed not later than
ten days
after notice. After this date, all funds will be
returned as unclaimed.
NOTE: In order to avoid unnecessary delays and
complications, please
remember to quote your Reference and Batch Numbers in
every one of
your correspondences with your claims agent.
Furthermore, should there be any change of your address,
do inform
your claims agent as soon as
possible.

Congratulations again from all our staff.

Sincerely,

Ms.Brenda Ngwenya.

N/B Please note that you are to donate 10% of your
winnings to the
less privileged children of Africa.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam