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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
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• 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:

• 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.
  • +31643178404 (Netherlands, 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.
  • charteredfina@netscape.net

Fraud email example:

From: "South Australia" <southaustralialotteriesbjdgsrhq@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Mon, 24 Oct 2005 17:14:41 -0400
Subject: CALL FOR CONFIRMATION

South Australia Lotteries,
23 Rundle Mall, Adelaide,
South Australia.
(South Australia Lottories is an affiliate of Overseas
Subscriber Agents).
Arena Complex 14 Donegall Square West, United Kingdom.
From: Susan Console
(Lottery Coordinator)

Sir/adam,

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

We are pleased to inform you of the result of the South Australia Lotteries Winners International
programs held on the 7th, October, 2005. Your e-mail address attached to ticket #: 00903228100
with prize # 778009/UK drew €1,000,000.00 which was first in the 2ndclass of the draws.you are to
receive €1,000,000.00 (One Million Euros). Because of mix up in cash pay-outs, we ask that you keep
your winning information confidential until your money (€1,000,000.00) has been fully remitted to you
by our accredited pay-point bank. This measure must be adhere to avoid loss of your cash prize -
winners of our cash prizes are advised to adhere to these instructions to forestall the abuse of this
program by other participants. It's important to note that this draws were conducted formally, and
winners are selected through an internet ballot system from 60,000 individual and companies e-mail
addresses - the draws are conducted around the world through our internet based ballot system. The
promotion is sponsored and promoted by South Australia lotteries.

We congratulate you once again. We hope you will use part of it in our next draws; the jackpot winning
is €85million. Remember, all winning must be claimed not later than 20 days. After this date all unclaimed
cash prize will be forfeited and included in the next sweepstake. Please, in order to avoid unnecessary
delays and complications remember to quote personal and winning numbers in all correspondence with us.

Congratulations once again from all members of South Australia Lotteries. Thank you for being part of our
promotional program.

For immediate release of your cash prize to you, please kindly contact our Paying Bank
( Chartered Finance & Securities Den Haag.)

Send them the following:
(i). Your names,
(ii) Contact telephone and fax numbers
(iii) Contact Address
(iv) your winning numbers
(v) Quote amount won.

Contact person: Mr. Felix Peterson
E-mail: charteredfina@netscape.net
Tel: +31 643 178 404
Congratulations once again.
Yours in service,
Susan Console

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam