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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
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• Company names mentioned in 419 spam:
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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:
  • "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
  • "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
• 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.
  • +27731868389 (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.
  • claimdep2005@webmail.co.za

Fraud email example:

From: "lotto draw" <salottodraw18@hotmail.com>
Date: Thu, 13 Oct 2005 00:18:27 -0700
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS!

FROM: THE DESK OF THE PROMOTIONS MANAGER,
INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS/ PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT.

DEAR SIR/MADAM,

AWARD WINNIG NOTIFICATION

We are pleased to inform you of the announcement today, 13th Oct 2005, of winners of the GLOBAL FLASH MEGA LOTTERY SOUTH AFRICA/INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS, held on 07 Oct 2005, as part of our promotional draws. Participants were selected through a computer ballot system drawn from 2,500,000 email addresses of individuals and companies from Africa, America, Asia, Australia, Canada, Europe, Middle East, and New Zealand as part of our electronic business Promotions Program. You qualified for the draw as a result of you visiting various websites we are running the e business promotions for.

You/Your Company, attached to ticket number 100-309-7482, with serial number 513-10 drew the lucky numbers 5, 9, 12, 29, 40, 59, 76, and consequently won in the Second Category.

You have therefore been approved for a lump sum pay out of US$1,950,000.00 in cash, which is the winning payout for Second category winners. This is from the total prize money of US$13,650,000.00 shared among the Seven international winners in the
Second category.

CONGRATULATIONS!

Your fund is now deposited with the Claim Department insured in your name. 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 account. This is part of our security protocol to avoid double claiming or unscrupulous acts by participants of this program.

To begin your claim, please contact our Claim Department immediately.

MR. WILFRED JAMES
DIRECTOR CLAIM DEPARTMENT,
Universal Building, 132-133
Park Hurst, Balfour-Unit 1440
JOHANNESBURG, GAUTENG 2001
SOUTH AFRICA.
TEL: +27 731 868 389
FAX: +27 11 483 0598
EMAIL: claimdep2005@webmail.co.za

For due processing and remittance of your prize money to a designated account of your choice. Remember, you must contact your claim department not later than 22nd Oct 2005. After this date, all funds will be returned as unclaimed.

NOTE: In order to avoid unnecessary delays and complications, please remember to quote your reference and batch numbers provided below in every one of your correspondences with your claims agent.

REFERENCE NUMBER: FLS-ZR39-825P-4, BATCH NUMBER: 74-263-BBN.

Congratulations once again from all our staff and thank you for being part of our promotions program.

Sincerely,

THE PROMOTIONS MANAGER,
GLOBAL FLASH MEGA LOTTERY SOUTH AFRICA.
UNIVERSAL BUILDING, 132-133
PARK HURST, BALFOUR-UNIT 1440
JOHANNESBURG, GAUTENG 2001.

N.B. Any breach of confidentiality on the part of the winners will result to disqualification. Please do not reply to this mailbox. Contact our Claims Department through the email contact above.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam