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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 phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "from the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • "claim 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.
  • +27783030229 (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.
  • apex_agent_southafrica@yahoo.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "safa org" <safa_org6@hotmail.com>
Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2006 14:48:11 +0000
Subject: WINNING NOTIFICATION

FROM THE DESK OF THE PROMOTIONS MANAGER,
MRS.LEE VAN DER MERWE.
EUROPEAN/UK/S.A.UNION INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS
BID SOUTH AFRICA 2010 WORLD CUP LOTTERY
AWARD DEPARTMENT.UNITED KINGDOM/SOUTH AFRICA
(Customer Services)
Ref: FER/4690/6103/24
Batch:245-379-482
Winning No:2-9-22-23-24-30
WINNING NOTIFICATION
We happily annouce to you the draw of South African 2010 World Cup Bid
Lottery Award International programs held in U.K your "email address" was
attached to ticket number; 12324277 serial number 6663817262 This batch
draws the lucky numbers as follows -9-22-23-24-30 bonus number 2, which
consequently won the lottery in the second category.

You hereby have been approved lump sum pay of £2,000,000.00 (TWO MILLION
POUNDS) file Ref: FER/8309/1209/26 from the total cash prize of
18,000,000.00 shared amongst ten lucky winners based on their category.

All participants "email address" were selected through a computer balloting
system drawn from Nine hundred thousand names from Canada, Australia, United
States,Asia, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Oceanic as part of our
international promotions program which is conducted annually.

This Lottery was promoted and sponsored by some multinational companies as
including Bill Gate, and some other EU governmental personalities part of
their social responsibility to promote South Africans 2010 world cup award.
the citizens in the communities where they have operational base.
To process your claims you are hereby advice to contact the Claim Agent
immediatly with this information:
NAME:..................................
ADDRESS:...............................
NATIONALITY:...........................
SEX:...................................
AGE:...................................
PHONE/MOBILE:..........................
FAX:...................................
OCCUPATION:............................
COMPANY:...............................
BATCH/WINNING NUMNBER:............................................
The lottery program took place to promote South Africans 2010 world cup
award.
Please you are advised to file for your claim immediately through our Agent
in South Africa MR. JOHNSON MOKOENA to remit your winning fund to your
account. Call him on the phone immediately you received this message because
you stand a risk of loosing the prize if you fail to claim within a month
from the day you received this notification.

His contact details are as follows...

CLAIM AGENT NAME: MR. JOHNSON MOKOENA
Email: apex_agent_southafrica@yahoo.com
TELEPHONE: +27-78-3030-229

Call him on the phone immediately you recieve this mail.

For security reasons, we advice all winners to keep this information
confidential from the public until your claim is processed and your prize
released to you. This is part of our security protocol to avoid dual
claiming and unwarranted taking advantage of this program by non-participant
or unofficial personnel.

Congratulations once again on your winnings!!!

Best Regards

MRS.LEE VAN DER MERWE.
Co-coordinator
EUROPEAN.UK .SOUTH AFRICAN UNION INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS.
Open 7 days 7am-7pm.

_________________________________________________________________
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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam