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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 fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
  • "euro afro american lottery promotion"
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "million united states dollars" (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 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.
  • brettnicoleclaimagent@yahoo.co.uk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: prizenotificationdepartment_2006@yahoo.co.uk
Date: Fri, 20 Jan 2006 14:37:03 +0200
Subject: CONTACT CLAIM AGENT URGENTLY

Euro Afro American Lottery promotion Switzerland
FROM: THE DESK OF THE PROMOTIONS MANAGER,
INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS/PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT

Attn:Lucky Winner,

CONGRATULATIONS FOR YOUR WINNING:

We happily announce to you the draw of South African 2010 World cup
Bid lottery Award International programs held in Zurich, Switzerland.
Your e-mail address attached to ticket number: B9665 75604546 199
with! Serial number 97560 drew the winning: 60/84/27/17/36, which
subsequently won you the lottery award in the 2nd category.
Your name has therefore been approved to claim a total sum of
US$2,000.000.00 (Two million United States Dollars)
in cash credited to file KPC/9030108308/03. This is from a total cash
prize of US $30,000,000.00 (Thirty million United States dollars)
shared
among the first 15 lucky winners in this category worldwide.

Please note that your lucky winning number falls within our lottery
booklet representative office in South Africa as indicated in the play
coupon.

In view of this, your US $2,000.000 (Two Million United States
Dollars) would be released to you through the assistance of our agent
in South Africa immediately he commences the process to facilitate
the release of your fund as soon as you
contact him.
Also your claim is included with free flight ticket and one month hotel
reservation in one of the five star hotels.

All participants were selected randomly from Worldwide Web site through
computer draw system and extracted from over 100,000,00 companies and
individual
email addresses.
The lottery program took place to promote South Africa`s 2010 World Cup
Award.

For security reasons, you are advised to keep your winning information
confidential
till your claims are processed and your money remitted to you in your
country.
This is part of our precautionary measure to avoid double claiming and
unwarranted abuse of this program by some unscrupulous elements.

Please you are advised to file for your claim immediately through our
agent
Dr.Brett Nicole immediately you received this message.

Name:Brett Nicole
Email:brettnicoleclaimagent@yahoo.co.uk
Tel:27 76 466 5363.


Yours sincerely,

Gilian Kennedy.
Prize Notification Department
2010 World Cup SA.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam