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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
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• Frequently asked Questions (419 FAQ)
• Phone numbers used by 419 scammers
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• 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:
  • "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
  • "from the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • "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)
  • "hundred thousand 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.
  • alex_twala333@yahoo.co.uk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: National Lotto <n_lotto4@yahoo.com>
Date: Fri, 9 Jun 2006 01:37:21 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS FOR YOUR WINNING


Euro Afro American Lottery Promotion Switzerland
>From the desk of: Mrs. Linda Altman

Dear Sir/Madam

CONGRATULATIONS FOR YOUR WINNING.

We happily announce to you the draw of South African 2010 World cup Bid lottery Award International program held in Zurich, Switzerland. Your e-mail address attached to ticket number: B9665 75604546 1978 with! Serial number 975600 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$600,000.00 (Six Hundred Thousand United States Dollars) in cash credited to file KPC/9030108308/059.

This is from a total cash prize of US$ 120,000,000.00 (One hundred and twenty million United States dollars) shared among the first 200 lucky winners in this category worldwide. Please note that your lucky winning number falls within our lottery booklet representative office in South Africa as indicate in the play coupon. In view of this, your US $600,000.00
(Six Hundred Thousand United States Dollars) would be released to you through the assistance of our agent with First National Bank (FNB) in South Africa. Our agent will commence immediately the process to facilitate the release of your prize as soon as you contact him.

All participants were selected randomly from Worldwide Web sites through computer draw system and extracted from over 100,000,00 companies and individual email addresses. The lottery program was organized to promote South Africa’s 2010 world cup hosting right. For security reasons, you are advised to keep your winning information confidential till your winning is processed and your money remitted to you through bank transfer. This is part of our precautionary measure to avoid double claiming and abuse of this program by some unscrupulous elements.

You are advised to file for your claim immediately through our agent with First National Bank South Africa Mr.Alex Twala immediately you receive this message becauseyou stand a risk of loosing the prize if you fail to file
your claim within a month from the day you received this notification.

His e-mail address is alex_twala333@yahoo.co.uk

Yours sincerely,
Mrs. Linda Altman.


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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam