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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 fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
  • "euro afro american lottery promotion"
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "million 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)
• 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.
  • brettnicoleagent2010worldcupbid@hotmail.com

Fraud email example:

From: prizenotificationdepartmentt@yahoo.co.uk
Date: Thu, 05 Jan 2006 19:18:09 +0200
Subject: CONTACT CLAIM AGENT URGENTLY

Euro Afro American Lottery promotion Switzerland
FROM: THE DESK OF THE PROMOTIONS MANAGER,
INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS/PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT

Attn:Winner,

CONGRATULATIONS FOR YOUR WINNING:
We happily announce to you the draw of South African 2010
World cup Bid lottery Award International programs held in Zurich,
Switzerland. Your e-mail address attached to ticket number: B9665
75604546
199 with! Serial number 97560 drew the winning: 60/84/27/17/36, which
subsequently won you the lottery award in the 2nd category. Your name
has therefore been approved to claim a total sum of US$2,000.000.00
(Two million United States Dollars) in cash credited to file
KPC/9030108308/03. This is from a total cash prize of US $30,000,000.00
(Thirty
million United States dollars) shared among the first 200 lucky winners
in
this category worldwide.
Please note that your lucky winning number falls within our lottery
booklet representative office in South Africa as indicated in the play
coupon. In view of this, your US $2,000.000 (Two Million United States
Dollars) would be released to you through the assistance of our agent
in
South Africa immediately he commences the process to facilitate the
release of your fund as soon as you contact him. Also your claim is
included with free flight ticket and one month hotel reservation in
one of
the five star hotels.
All participants were selected randomly from Worldwide Web site through
computer draw system and extracted from over 100,000,00 companies and
individual email addresses. The lottery program took place to promote
South Africa`s 2010 world cup award. For security reasons, you are
advised to keep your winning information confidential till your claims
are
processed and your money remitted to you.
This is part of our precautionary measure to avoid double claiming and
unwarranted abuse of this program by some unscrupulous elements.
Please you are advised to file for your claim immediately through our
agent
Brett Nicole immediately you received this message.

Name:Brett Nicole.
Tel:27 76 466 5363.
Email:brettnicoleagent2010worldcupbid@hotmail.com

Yours Sincerely,

Gilian Kenedy.
(Zonal coordinator)

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam