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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:
  • "fiduciary agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "claim agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "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)
  • ",500,000" (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.
  • +27731176357 (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.
  • loprogram3@hotmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: MICRO LOTTERY <milott018@msn.com>
Reply-To: <loprogram3@hotmail.com>
Date: Tue, 17 Mar 2009 09:42:51 +0000
Subject: Hotmail/Yahoo Awards Center



Hotmail/Yahoo Awards Center
124 Stockport Road,
Longsight, Manchester
M60 2DB - United Kingdom


This is to inform you that you have won a prize money of One Million Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars (USD 1,500,000) for the 2009 new Year Prize Promotion which is Organized by YAHOO,WINDOWS LIVE and GMAIL.This domains collects all the email addresses of the people that are active online, among the millions that subscribed to Yahoo,Hotmail,Gmail and few from other e-mail providers like Chinese Sites, Aol, and the rest. Nine people are selected every six Months to benefit from this promotion and you are one of the Selected Winners for this new year. This program was organised to creat an internet/Email awareness for the hosting of 2010 World Cup in South Africa for the first time.So you dont need to play lottery before you won.


PAYMENT OF PRIZE AND CLAIM


Winners shall be paid in accordance with his/her Settlement Centre.Yahoo Prize Award must be claimed not later than 60 days from date of Draw Notification. Any prize not claimed within this period will be forfeited.


Stated below are your identification numbers:


BATCH NUMBER: YPA/06/APA-43658
REFERENCE NUMBER: 2009234522
PIN: 1206



These numbers fall within the South African Location file and you are requested to contact our fiduciary agent in Johannesburg and send your winning identification numbers to him;



Financial Claims Department
Southern Africa Payment Office
Claims Manager
Mr.Khumalo Jones
Tel:+27-73-117-6357
Email:loprogram3@hotmail.com


Our "PRINCIPAL CLAIM AGENT" will immediately commence the process to facilitate the release of your funds as soon as you contact him. For security reasons, you are advised to keep your winning information confidential till your claim is processed and your money remitted to your account. This is to avoid double claiming or other people trying to claim your winnings behind you.To file for your claim,send the following details to our "PRINCIPAL CLAIM AGENT" as soon as you get this message,


1.Your full names 2.Your home address 3.Your telephone and fax numbers 4.Your date of birth
5.Your sex/marital status 6 Your Occupation/Nationality 7.Your E-mail address 8.Amount you won
9.Forward your reference and batch numbers included in this mail to him for the purpose of verification.


As soon as our agent hears from you, he shall commence the process that will facilitate the release of your fund to you.


Congratulations!! once again.


Yours in service,
Dr. (Mrs.) Edith Barth
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WARNING!


Do not tell people about your Prize Award until your money is successfully handed over to you to avoid disqualification that may arise from double claim.


You may also receive similar e-mails from people potraying to be other Organizations or Yahoo Inc. This is solely to collect your personal information from you and lay claim over your winning.In event that you receive any e-mail similar to the notification letter that was sent to you, Kindly delete it from your mail box and give no further correspondence to such person or body.Yahoo shall not be held responsible for any loss of fund arising from the above mentioned.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam