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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 fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
  • "global mega lottery" (no such lottery exists)
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "claim agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "foreign service manager" (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)
  • "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)
  • "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)
  • "barrister" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
  • "chambers" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
• 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!
• Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.
• 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.
  • +27732223816 (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.
  • smithchambersandassociates@yahoo.co.uk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: WORLD CUP SOUTH AFRICA 2010 <ms-saslot2142010@hotmail.com>
Date: Tue, 23 Oct 2007 09:07:01 +0200
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS YOU ARE A WINNER



OFFICE OF THE FOREIGN SERVICE MANAGER UNIVERSAL BUILDING,132-133 PARK HURST, BALFOUR-UNIT 1440 JOHANNESBURG, GAUTENG 2001 SOUTH AFRICA.
ATTENTION: OUR HONORABLE WINNER
FROM THE MANAGER INTERNATIONAL E-MAIL PROMOTIONS/PRIZE AWARD DEPT, GLOBAL MEGA LOTTERY, IN-CONJUNCTION WITH FIFA WORLD CUP SOUTH AFRICA 2010 WORLD LOTTERY

YOU ARE WINNER NO: 15
RE: ELECTRONIC MAIL AWARD WINNING NOTIFICATION
GLOBAL MEGA LOTTERY MANAGEMENT WORLDWIDE IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE ORGANIZING COMMITTEE FIFA WORLD CUP SOUTH AFRICA 2010 ARE PLEASED TO INFORM YOU THAT YOU ARE A WINNER OF OUR ANNUAL MICROSOFT/ GLOBAL MEGA LOTTO LOTTERY CONDUCTED IN SOUTH AFRICA BEING THE HOST OF THE EVENT FOR THIS PRESENT YEAR'S MEGA JACKPOT LOTTERY WINNING PROGRAM HELD ON THE 22ND OCTOBER 2007 AT THE NELSON MANDELA SQUARE-SANDTON, JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA.
YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS WAS ATTACHED TO OUR DRAW WITH SERIAL NUMBER S/N-00168 AND IT DREW THE LUCKY NUMBERS 87-43-25-22-10-3, AND CONSEQUENTLY WON IN THE SECOND CATEGORY OF THE DRAW. YOU HAVE THEREFORE BEEN APPROVED FOR LUMP SUM OF $1,000,000.00 (ONE MILLION UNITED STATES DOLLAR) ONLY PAYABLE IN CASH CREDITED TO FILE REF. NO: 56475600545 188 AND BATCH NO: 5368/02 THIS IS FROM THE TOTAL PRIZE MONEY OF $125,000,000.00 (ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY FIVE MILLION UNITED STATES DOLLARS SHARED AMONG ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY FIVE (125) LUCKY INTERNATIONAL WINNERS IN FIRST AND SECOND CATEGORY RESPECTIVELY.
ALL PARTICIPANTS WERE SELECTED FROM WORLDWIDE WEBSITES THROUGH OUR MICROSOFT COMPUTER BALLOT SYSTEM DRAWN FROM TEN MILLION CONSTANT E-MAIL USERS FROM AROUND THE WORLD WITH EACH CONTINENT IN PARTICIPATION AS PART OF THE INTERNATIONAL "E-MAIL PROMOTIONS PROGRAM" WHICH IS CONDUCTED ANNUALLY FOR OUR PROMINENT MICROSOFT USERS ALL OVER THE WORLD, AND TO ENCOURAGE THE SOUTH AFRICA FIFA WORLD CUP BID 2010.
YOUR FUND HAS BEEN INSURED AND WILL BE PAID TO YOU BY TELEGRAPHIC TRANSFER (TT) THROUGH OUR AFRICA CLAIM AGENT (DETAILS BELOW).

NAME: BARRISTER SMITH THAMBO ESQ. OFFICE: SMITH CHAMBERS AND ASSOCIATESSolicitor, Advocate and Attorney Of The Republic Of South Africa
EMAILS: SMITHCHAMBERSANDASSOCIATES@YAHOO.CO.UK PHONE: +27 732223816

Endeavor to email your claim agent with the required data below: 1.FULL NAMES:________________________________________ 2.ADDRESS:___________________________________________3.COUNTRY:___________________________________________4.SEX:________________________________________________5. AGE:______________________________________________ 6.OCCUPATION:_________________________________________7. TELEPHONE NUMBER:_________________________________ 8.BATCH NUMBER:_____________________________________9. REFERENCE NUMBER:________________________________

NOTE THAT YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS SHOULD BE USED IN ALL YOUR CORRESPONDENCE WITH YOUR CLAIM OFFICER FOR REFERENCE PURPOSE, THROUGH THE CONTACT DETAILS CONTAINED HEREIN. QUOTE YOUR WINNING NUMBERS AND NO. 19. AS PART OF OUR SECURITY PROTOCOL, QUOTE ALSO THIS SECURITY CODE: MSGML/JAN/XX207 TO YOUR CLAIM AGENT TO AVOID MISAPPROPRIATION OR SCAM.
REMEMBER, ALL PRIZE/S MONEY MUST BE CLAIMED WITHIN 14 DAYS OF THE RECEIPT OF THIS NOTICE OR FORFEITED TO THE GOVERNMENT OF SOUTH AFRICA.
CONGRATULATIONS, ONCE MORE FROM THE ENTIRE MANAGEMENT AND STAFF OF GLOBAL MEGA LOTTERY, AND THE ORGANIZING COMMITTEE FIFA WORLD CUP SOUTH AFRICA 2010 TO ALL OUR LUCKY WINNERS THIS YEAR.
SINCERELY,
MARY NKOSI FOREIGN SERVICE MANAGER.
OUR SPONSORS: CHIEF SPONSORS;
GLOBAL MEGA LOTTERY, WINIKHAYA LOTTERY SOUTH AFRICA, FIFA, EMIRATES AIRLINES, SOUTH AFRICAN AIRLINES, OLD MUTUAL INSURANCE, CHELSEA FC, BENITA GROUP, LUCIN GROUP, JULIUS BERGER, SAMSUNG ETC.
_________________________________________________________________
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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam