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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.

Click here to report a problem with this page.

Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "fiduciary agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • ",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)
  • "00,000.00" (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.
  • +27761444766 (South Africa, prepaid mobile phone)

Fraud email example:

From: denis botha <denis_botha3@hotmail.com>
Date: Wed, 24 Oct 2007 04:33:47 +0000
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS:YOUR EMAIL HAVE WON



POKER ONLINE PROMOTIONNational Office,157-197 Burgsburg Palace Road,Eastern Cape
Ref Number: ZAR/J0021-671/SA2007Batch number 002472/B8992-07.

TO WINNERS IN OUR PROGRAM

We wish to congratulate you over your success in ourcomputer balloting sweepstake held on Saturday 20thoctober 2007.
This is a millennium scientific computer game in whichemail addresses were used. It is a promotional programaimed at encouraging internet users; therefore you donot need to buy ticket to enter for the game.
However, your email address was attached to ticketnumber 728-10185-03124-78-288:with serial number6712/07 draw the lucky numbers01-05-13-267-32-05,which eventually won the lottery inthe first category of the draws.
Therefore, you have won a lottery jackpot prize awardsof $2,400,000.00 (Two million Four Hundred ThousandDollars Only) This is from total prizemoney of US$30,000,000.00 distributed to winners from1st to 3rd categories.
Note that this program was largely promoted andsponsored by a group of philanthropist, industrialistsfrom the internet ware industry and some other bigmultinational firms who wish to be anonymous.
You may wish to establish contact via e-mail with theparticulars presented below citing the batch andreference numbers to this letter.
To file for your claim, please contact your fiduciary agent in South
Africa.
Telephone lines are open between the hours of 8.00am -7.30pm on Monday through Friday
Customer Service Unit,MR.ANDERSON SIMMON.CLAIMS MANAGEREMAIL: claimagents@websurfer.co.zaTELEPHONE: +27-76-144-4766
NOTE: YOU ARE REQUIRED TO FILL IN THE BELOW DETAILSFOR THE PROCESSING OF YOUR CLAIM.
NAME:..................................EMAIL ADDRESS:............................ADDRESS:.......................................................NATIONALITY:...........................SEX:.........................................AGE:.....................................PHONE/MOBILE:..........................FAX:...................................OCCUPATION:....................................COMPANY:..............................BATCH/WINNINGNUMNBER:............................................
PLEASE YOU MUST BE 18 YEARS AND ABOVE TO CLAIM APRIZE.
Our winners are assured of the utmost standards ofconfidentiality, and press anonymity until the end ofproceedings, and beyond where they so desire. Befurther advised to maintain the strictest level ofconfidentiality until the end of proceedings tocircumvent problems associated with fraudulent cliams.
CONGRATULATIONS !!!At your disposal, we remain.Very Truly Yours,
Denis Botha (Mr.),Director.International Promotions Unit,ZA Poker PromotionsNational Office,


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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam