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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
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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")
  • "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.
  • +27836826830 (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.
  • johnsonego@gmail.com

Fraud email example:

From: "manager promotions" <royalrumblelt1@yahoo.com>
Date: Sat, 18 Feb 2006 06:29:33 +0000
Subject: notifications of your winning


we are pleased to inform you from ROYAL RUMBLE LOTTERY INC of the
announcement today,
17TH oF FEBRUARY 2006 as one of the lucky winners of The ROYAL RUMBLE
LOTTERY
Lotto draws, held on the 15TH Of FEBRUARY 2006 as part of Our e-business
promotional draws.
Participants in the draws were selected through a computer ballot system
drawn from 2,500,000 email
addresses of individuals and companies from Africa, America,
Asia,Australia, Europe, Middle East,as part
of our electronic business Promotions.

You qualified for the draw as a result of your visiting various websites we
are running the Electronic-business
promotions for. You/Your Company email address, attached with REFERENCE
NUMBER:RRL 2006/1/0023698,
and consequently won the 2006 1ST Quarter draw.

You have therefore been approved for a lump sum pay out of US$2,000,000.00
in cash, which is the winning
payout for First category winners. This is from the total prize money of
US$14,000,000.00 shared among the seven
winners in the First category.

CONGRATULATIONS!
Your winnings should be claimed from our claims/paying Agent Whose detail
is given below.
Due to the mix 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
(2006) high stakes US$1.1 billion International Lottery.
To begin your claim, please contact our paying agent who also Will be your
claim agent immediately:

MR. JOHN EGO
BROKERAGE SERVICES MANAGER
GOLD RIFT FINANCE LIMITED
Email: johnsonego@gmail.com
phone: +27-836-826830
Fax: +27-123499479

For due processing and remittance of your prize money,
Remember you must contactyour claims agent not later
than 3RD OF MARCH 2006 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 provided below in every one of your
correspondences with your claims agent.
REFERENCE NUMBER:RRL 2006/1/0023698
BATCH NUMBER:449.611.RRL.

Also to begin your Claim send to your claims agent the following
information by email.

1)YOUR BATCH AND REFFERENCE NUMBERS and AMOUNT WON
2)YOUR FULL NAME
3)YOUR ADDRESS
4)A COPY OF YOUR ID (PASSPORT OR DRIVERS LISCENCE)
5)CONTACT TLEPHONE, MOBILE PHONE NUMBER AND FAX NUMBER
Congratulations once again from all our staff and
thank you for being part of our promotions program.

Sincerely,

THE LOTTO AWARDS MANAGER,
ROYAL RUMBLE LOTTERY INC.
290 REPUBLIC ROAD
JOHANNESBURG,
SOUTH AFRICA.

N.B. Any breach of confidentiality on the part of the
winners will result to disqualification.
Contact your claims agent by emaiL or fax.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam