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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:

• 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:
  • "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "transfer of your funds" (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)
  • "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)
  • ",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.
  • +27730828002 (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.
  • mrjamesanderson610@yahoo.co.uk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
  • losa_029@hotmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: lotto sa <losa_029@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: <mrjamesanderson610@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Wed, 31 Oct 2007 08:12:54 +0200
Subject: PAYMENT NOTIFICATION



ATTENTION:Winner. RE/ AWARD NOTIFICATION; FINAL NOTICE We are pleased to inform you of the announcement today 31st October 2007 of winners of the PRESTIGIOUS LOTTERY S.A., PROGRAMS held 26th October 2007.Your winning email address,is attached to ticket number 023-0148-790-459,with serial number 5073-11 drew the lucky numbers 43-21-54-37-10-43,and consequently won the lottery in the 3rd category. You have therefore been approved for a lump sum pay out of US$3,000.000.00 in cash credited to file REF NO.AMXXL/25041238013/03. This is from total prize money of US$51,000,000.00 shared among the seventeen international winners in this category.All participants were selected through a computer ballot system drawn from a collation of email addreses belonging to all frequent internet users from all over the world from Australia, New Zealand, America,Europe, North America and Asia as part of International Promotions Program, which is conducted bia-annually. CONGRATULATIONS! Your funds is now deposited with our corresponding bank,and would be transferd to you as soon as i hear from you. Due to the mix up of some numbers and names, we ask that you keep this award strictly from public notice until your claim has been processed and your money remitted to your designated account or send to me your prefarence as regards your desired method of transfer of your funds to you. This is part of our security protocol to avoid double claiming or unscrupulous acts by participantsof this program. We hope with a part of you prize, you will participate in our end of year high stakes US$1.3billion International Lottery. To begin your claim, please contact your claims agent VIA EMAIL; MR JAMES ANDERSON,( mrjamesanderson610@yahoo.co.uk) or you call him on this number :+27-73-0828002 FOREIGN SERVICE MANAGER, AFRICA PAYMENT OFFICE # 25 RICHARDS RYLAAN, AUCKLAND PARK,0083 P.O. Box 524, AUCKLANDPARK JOHANNESBURG 2001 SOUTH AFRICA OMEGA CROSSING. with the above informations which should include your FULL NAMES, AGE, SEX,MARITAL STATUS,NATIONALITY,CONTACT POSTAL ADDRESS,TELEPHONE AND FAX NUMBER, via this email address ( mrjamesanderson610@yahoo.co.uk ) For due processing and remittance of your prize money to a designated account of your choice. Remember, all prize money must be claimed not later than a month and all funds will be returned as unclaimed, and returned back to the ENGLISH GOVERNMENT.NOTE: In order to avoid unnecessary delays and complications, please remember to quote your reference and batch numbers in everyone of your correspondences with your agent. Furthermore, should there be any change of your email address, do inform your claims agent as soon as possible. Congratulations again from all our staff and thank you for being part of our promotions program.Sincerely, MR JAMES ANDERSON. THE PROMOTIONS MANAGER, PRESTIGIOUS LOTTERY, SOUTH AFRICA. N.B. Any breach of confidentiality on the part of any of our winners will result to disqualification and please remember to forward your details to Mr.James Anderson, for the transfer of your prize winning money into your account, as you receive this mail immediately. with this email address's ( mrjamesanderson610@yahoo.co.uk ) you can also contact me with this email address as well ( losa_029@hotmail.com ) Mr solomon Williams.
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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam