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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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• 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 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)
  • ",000,000" (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.
  • +27764253288 (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.
  • csclaimagent@winning.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: south africa <worldcupscheme0010@hotmail.com>
Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2007 11:51:23 +0200
Subject: FROM: OFFICE OF THE ZONAL CO-ORDINATOR



FROM: OFFICE OF THE ZONAL CO-ORDINATORSOUTH AFRICA 2010 WORLD CUP LOTTERY BID #31 BRIXON COURT EAST GATE MALL, JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA. Dear Winner, We are pleased to inform you of the result of the annual draw of the South African 2010 WORLD CUP LOTTERY BID held in canada. The online cyber annual draws was conducted from a list of 25,000,000 e-mail addresses of individuals and corporate institutions, picked by an advanced automated random computer search from the internet. No tickets were sold. Your e-mail address emerged as one of the winners in the 26th/27th category with the following Qualification Information attached: WINNING NUMBERS : 60.84.27.17.36E-MAIL TICKET NUMBER: B9665 75604546 199 FILE REF. NO : SA2010.60.84.27.17.36SERIAL NUMBER : 97560DRAW DATE : 20/09/2007 You are therefore to receive a cash prize of USD$1,000,000.00 (One Million United States Dollars) from our total lottery payout. For security reasons, be advised to keep your winning information confidential till your claim is processed upon meeting our, statutory obligations, verifications, and general requirements as double claim will authomatically disqualify your email ticket number. To file for your claim, Do contact the CLAIM AGENT with the provided contact informations below: NAME: Mr. Eric Colman(CLAIM AGENT). TEL: +27 76 425 3288Email: csclaimagent@webmail.co.zaEmail: csclaimagent@winning.com NOTE: All winnings must be claimed not later than 30 days of this notification, thereafter unclaimed Winning will be returned to the South African Lottery and Gambling Board as unclaimed Lottery Payment to be included in the next draw. Send the below information to the CLAIM AGENT for the processing of your winning payment. NAME:.................................. ADDRESS:............................... NATIONALITY:........................... SEX:................................... AGE:................................... PHONE/MOBILE:.......................... FAX:................................... OCCUPATION:............................ COMPANY:............................... EMAIL-TICKET/WINNING NUMNBER:............................................Congratulations once again from our members of staff and thank you for being part of our Promotional Program.SIGNED: Yours faithfully, MRS. THELMA BRUCE (Online coordinator) (Open 7 days 7am-7pm)SPONSORED BY: lotterycanada.comThis email may contain confidential and/or privileged information which is strictly intended solely for the use of the person(s) with the intended recipient e-mail address as filed
_________________________________________________________________
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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam