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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
• Support our efforts to stop scams!
  
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• What can you do when you receive 419 spam
  
  
• Spam archive, Daily index
  

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:
  • "suite 23-30,lion towers"
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "million us 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 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.
  • +27835852071 (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.
  • felixzuma_southafricanlottery@yahoo.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "CONGRATULATIONS!!!" <free_salottery@mighty.co.za> (may be fake)
Date: Sun, 19 Feb 2006 12:44:25 -0800
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS!!!




GBF INTERNATIONAL INC.
THE FREE LOTTO COMPANY
SA HEAD OFFICE
SUITE 23-30,LION TOWERS
CENTRAL SANDTON
JOBURG SOUTH AFRICA


Dear Winner,

My name is Mrs ROSE MFULA, and on the behalf of GBF
INTERNATIONAL/FREELOTTO COMPANY OF SOUTH AFRICA,I wish to
announce you as one of the 10 lucky winners in the
FreeLotto draw held on the 14th Feb. 2005. All 10
winning addresses were randomly selected from a batch of
50,000,000 international emails.Your email address emerged
along side 9 others as a 2nd category winner in this year's
Annual FreeLotto Draw.

Consequently,you have therefore been approved for a total
pay out of 1,000,000 US Dollars (one million US Dollars
only).The following particulars are attached to your lotto
payment order:

(i) Winning numbers: 37-13-43-85-67-11
(ii) Email ticket number: FL754/22/76
(iii) Lotto code number: FL09622SA
(iv) The file Ref number: FL/04/736207152/SA

Please contact the underlisted claims officer as soon as
possible for the immediate release of your winnings:

MR.FELIX ZUMA
NORTHGATE CONSULTS
DEPARTMENT OF CLAIMS.
COLDHARBOUR LANE
JOBURG,SOUTH AFRICA
TEL/FAX: + 27 83 585 2071
EMAIL:felixzuma_southafricanlottery@yahoo.com


This email notification is auto-generated and it is valid
for four weeks.Once again on behalf of all our
staff,CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Sincerely,
Mrs ROSE MFULA

The FreeLotto Awards is proudly sponsored by the Microsoft
Corporation,the Intel Group,Toshiba, Dell
computers,Mckintosh and a conglomeration of other
international IT companies.The freelotto internet draw is
held once in every new year and is so organized to
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worldwide.We are proud to say that over 200 Million Dollars
are won annually in more than 150 countries worldwide.

We also encourage you to visit various website online and
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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam