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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:
  • "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "cheque " (Beware of any scheme that involves cashing checks or money orders and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere - you'll be liable for the entire amount if the checks or money orders turn out to be fake, even after you have received and forwarded cash)
• 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 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.
  • kadiri@pnetmail.co.za

Fraud email example:

From: mayors@pnetmail.co.za
Date: Fri, 14 Oct 2005 00:12:57 +0200
Subject: LOTTERY WINNER




THE LOTTERY COORDINATOR,
INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS/PRIZE AWARD
DEPARTMENT ATTENTION:
(REFERENCE NUMBER: LMT-424ZA13-05 BATCH
NUMBER:1823LT-ZA5)

THIRD CATEGORY WINNER

After a successful completion of the third
category draws of the
LITHULI MEMORIAL SWEEPSTAKES SPECIAL,
held on 12TH OCT 2005, we are
pleased to inform you of the official
announcement today that you have
emerged one of the winners of the UTHINGO
CHAMPION SWEEPSTAKES SPECIAL
PROGRAMS, which is part of our promotional
draws. Participants were
selected through a computer ballot system
drawn from 25,000 names/email
addresses of individuals and companies from
Africa, America, Asia,
Australia, Canada, Europe, Middle East, and New
Zealand as part of our
International Promotions Program.

You/Your company, attached to ticket number
777-78-1105, with serial
number 234-90 drew the lucky numbers 8, 12,
31, 52, 38, 40, (9), and
consequently won in the Third Category. You
have therefore been awarded
a lump sum pay out of US$2.8,000,000.00 in
cash, which is the winning
payout for third category winners. This is from
the total prize money of US$112,010,000.00

from which Fourteen international winners in the
Third category will be shared.

CONGRATULATIONS!

Your fund is now deposited with COLIBRI
SECURITY SERVICES, insured in
your name. To avoid mix up of numbers and
names of any kind, we request
that you keep this award strictly from public
notice until the entire
process of transferring your claims has been
completed, and your
certified banker's Cheque sent to you. This is
part of our security
protocol to avoid double claiming or
unscrupulous acts by participants
of this program. We also wish to bring to your
notice our end of year
(2005) high stakes where you stand a chance of
winning up to US$1.1
billion; we hope that with a part of your prize
you will participate.
Please contact your claims agent immediately,
to begin your claims
process;

MR. KADIRI MAYORS.
SENIOR CLAIMS EXECUTIVE,
COLIBRI SECURITIES LTD.
EMAIL: kadiri@pnetmail.co.za

for due processing and remittance of your prize
money to a designated
account of your choice. Remember, you must
contact your claims agent
within a week of receiving this mail.

NOTE: To avoid unnecessary delays and
complications, please remember to
quote your reference and batch numbers
provided below in every one of
your correspondence with your claims agent.
REFERENCE NUMBER: LMT-424ZA13-05
BATCH NUMBER: 1823LT-ZA5
Congratulations once again from all our staff
and thank you for being
part of our promotions program.

Sincerely,

BRENDAN SITHIWE
THE LOTTERY COORDINATOR,
UTHINGO SWEEPSTAKES SPECIAL.
241 WILLIAM NICOL ROAD,
BRYANSTON, JOHANNESBURG.
2562 SOUTH AFRICA.

N.B. Any breach of confidentiality on the part of
the winners will
result to disqualification. Rather, contact your
claims agent whose credentials are listed

above. All staff of Lithuli Memorial Trust, Colibri
Securities Ltd and members of their

family as well as South Africans of all ages are
barred from this lottery.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam