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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
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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.

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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:
  • "claim agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "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 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.
  • +31629593750 (Netherlands, 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.
  • nationalclaim1@aim.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: htnxSOUTH AFRICA 2010 <nationalclaimdep@aim.com>
Date: Sun, 27 May 2007 21:15:40 +0200
Subject: CONGRATULATION AS YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS WON 1.5 MILLION DOLLARS CASH.

THE PROMOTIONS MANAGER, INTERNATIONAL LOTTERY. 2nd Floor SABC, Universal Building P.O. Box 91711, Auckland Park, 2006 Henley Road. Johannesburg, South Africa. Attention: Winner/Beneficiary, CONGRATULATIONS FOR YOUR LOTTERY WINNING: INFORMATION. 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 321 with Serial number 964760 drew the winning: 06/08/10/19/30/42, Reference number PT418904512, Batch number WB44009302, which subsequently won you the lottery award in the category (B). Your name has therefore been approved to claim the sum total of US$1,500,000.00(one Million five hundred thousand United States Dollars) in cash credited to file KPC/9030108308/03. This is from a total cash prize of US$40,000,000.00 (Forty Million United States Dollars) shared amongst the first 20 lucky winners in this category (B) world-wide. 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$2,000,000.00 (ONE MILLION UNITED STATES DOLLARS) would be released to you through the assistance of our INTERNATIONAL CLAIM AGENT IN THE NETHERLANDS. The claim department will commence the process to facilitate the release of your funds as soon as you contact the office. Also your claim includes a FREE FLIGHT TICKET TO SOUTH AFRICA FOR THE 2010 WORLD CUP and ONE MONTH HOTEL RESERVATION IN ONE OF THE FIVE STAR HOTELS IN SOUTH AFRICA . All participants were selected randomly from World Wide Web sites through computer draw systems and extracted from over 100,000,000 companies and individual email addresses. The Lottery Programme 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 claim is processed and your money is remitted to you. This is part of our precautionary measures 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 INTERNATIONAL CLAIM AGENT on the following information: immediately with this information: YOUR NAME:.................................. ADDRESS:............................... NATIONALITY:........................... SEX:................................... AGE:................................... PHONE/MOBILE:.......................... FAX:................................... OCCUPATION:............................ COMPANY:............................... BATCH/WINNING NUMNBER:............................................ YOU SHOULD IMMEDIATELY CALL YOUR CLAIM AGENT BELOW. NAME: DR. PETER JAAPS TELEPHONE NUMBER: +31-629-593-750 FAX NUMBER: +31-847-465-672 EMAIL ADDRESS: nationalclaim1@aim.com You stand the chance of loosing this prize money if you do not respond within the time frame of this notification letter. Once again, congratulations. Yours sincerely, MR GOODLUCK JOHNSON. (NATIONAL CO-ORDINATOR) BELOW ARE THE RECENT JUBILATING WINNERS OF NATIONAL LOTTERY ONLINE PROGRAMME PLEASE DOWNLOAD THE ATTACHEMENT TO SEE THE FULL INFORMATION.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam