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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
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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:
  • "claim 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.
  • +27837494916 (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.
  • claimmanager911@websurfer.co.za

Fraud email example:

From: "promotiondept lotteryorg" <promotiondept_lottery_org@hotmail.com>
Date: Thu, 06 Oct 2005 18:54:56 +0200
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS YOU HAVE WON

PROMOTERS FLASH LOTTERY ORG.
180 RIVONIA ROAD,
SANDTON,JHB,
SOUTH AFRICA.

NOTIFICATION OF YOUR LOTTO WINNING.

ATTENTION:

We are pleased to inform you of the annousement today ,6th October 2005 as
one of the lucky winners of the PROMOTERS FLASH LOTTERY ORG. PROMOTIONAL
DRAW; held recently , Friday 30th September 2005, as part of Our e-business
promotion.

You qualified for the draw as a result of you surfing/visiting various web
sites we are running the
Electronic-business promotions for. You/Your Company e-mail address,
attached with REFERENCE NUMBER: ZAR 23457677/2004 BATCH NUMBER:79-124-WAN
with serial number 818-09 drew the
lucky numbers 2-9-22-23-24-30, and consequently won the lottery.

You have therefore been approved for lump sum pay out of US$2,200,000.00 in
cash, which is the winning pay out for First category winners. This is from
the total prize money of US$15,000,000.00 shared among the seven winners in
the Second category.

CONGRATULATIONS!

Your winnings should be claimed from our paying Bank.As we have notified
them. Due to the mix-up that may arise from emails of winners and numbers we
ask that you keep this award strictly from public notice until your claim
has been processed and your money remitted to you. This is part of
our security protocol to avoid double claiming or unscrupulous acts by
participants of this program.

We hope with a part of your prize, you will participate in our end of year
(2005) high stakes US$1.1 billion International Lottery. To begin your
claim, please contact our claims Department in our International Electronic
Email Selection claims department.

CLIAMS AGENT
DR. FRED MAJOSI
180 RIVONIA ROAD,
SANDTON,JHB,
SOUTH AFRICA.
Tel: +27-83-749-4916.
Email: claimmanager911@websurfer.co.za


For due processing and remittance of your prize money,remember you must
contact your claim agent not later than two week. Otherwise all funds will
be returned as unclaimed.

Once again we say Congratulation.

Thanks,
Mrs. Suzan De-Klerk
Promotions Manager

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam