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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:
  • "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.
  • +27738062391 (South Africa, prepaid mobile phone)

Fraud email example:

From: "Pool Lottery South Africa" <poollotterysouthafrica@msn.com>
Date: Thu, 20 Oct 2005 05:49:00 +0000
Subject: Congratulation You Have Won

BATCH: 22/523009/LHINT
REF NO: ZA/144132/1211.

ATTENTION

RE/ AWARD NOTIFICATION

We wish to inform you of the lottery draws held on the 17th of October,2005
to declare the winners of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and
South Africa Football Association (SAFA) in collaboration with the POOL
LOTTERY SOUTH AFRICA/INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS.

Yourself, 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 RANDS
8,000,000.00 in cash credited to file REF NO: ZA/144132/1211 This is from
total prize money of ZAR 136,000,000.00 shared among the
seventeen 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 monthly.


CONGRATULATIONS!
Your fund is now available for claim. However due to the mix up of some
numbers and names, we ask that you keep this award strictly from public
notice until your claim has been processed and your money remitted to your
account. This is part of our security protocol to avoid double claiming or
unscrupulous acts by participants of this promotion. We hope with a part of
your prize, you will participate in our End of year Jackpot of ZAR100,
000,000 Million International Lottery.

TO BEGIN YOUR CLAIM, PLEASE CONTACT OUR CLAIMS OFFICE WITH YOUR FULL DETAILS
i.e YOUR FULL NAMES, YOUR TELEPHONE AND FAX NUMBERS, YOUR CONTACT ADDRESS,
BATCH, REFERENCE AND TICKET NUMBERS THROUGH THE DETAILS BELOW;

MR STEPHEN LAWRENCE
CLAIMS MANAGER
FOREIGN CLAIMS DEPARTMENT,
MIDLAND FINANCE SOUTH AFRICA PTY
1212 MIDLAND HOUSE
JAN SMUTS AVENUE
JOHANESSBURG
SOUTH AFRICA.

EMAIL: claimsdepartment@midlandsouthafrica.org
TELEPHONE: +27-73-806-2391

For due processing and remittance of your prize money to you.Remember, all
prize money must be claimed not later than One Weeks 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,
Rachel Lee.



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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam