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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
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• Phone numbers used by 419 scammers
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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.

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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 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.
  • clmlotto@yahoo.com
  • plelotto@yahoo.com

Fraud email example:

From: plelotto@yahoo.com
Date: Wed, 18 Jan 2006 13:11:10 +0200
Subject: CONGRATULATION

PEOPLE INTERNATIONAL LOTTERY
019 MANDELA DRIVE SANDTON CITY,JOHANNESBURG SOUTH AFRICA
CONGRATULATIONS!....
FROM: PROMOTIONS MANAGER,
INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS/PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT,
REF: ZAR/900111/2004
BATCH: 08/11810/ZIE
ATTENTION: DEAR WINNER,
RE/ AWARD NOTIFICATION; FINAL NOTICE
We wish to inform you of the lottery draws held on 5TH JANUARY 2006 to declare the winners of the PEOPLE LOTTO/INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS.
Your email address, attached to ticket number 900-4675-04854-197, with serial
number 412-01 drew the lucky numbers 2 9 32 65 72 19 10, and consequently won the lottery.
You have therefore been approved for a lump sum pay out of ZAR15,000,000.00 in cash credited to file REF NO: ZAR/900111/2004. This is from total prize money of ZAR120,000,000.00 shared among the Seventeen International Winners in this category. All participants were selected through a computer ballot system drawn from 17,000 email addresses from Australia, New Zealand, America, Europe and Middle East and Asia as part our International Promotions Program, which is conducted monthly.
CONGRATULATIONS!
Your fund is now available for claim. Due to the mix up of some numbers and email address, 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 promotion.
We hope with a part of you prize, you will participate in our end of year high stakes ZAR100,000,000 Million International Lottery.
To begin your claim, please contact our claim manager;
CLAIMS MANAGER,
MR. FIDEL SANKZUMA
PEOPLE INTERNATIONAL LOTTO,
JOHANNESBURG SOUTH AFRICA
EMAIL: clmlotto@yahoo.com
For due processing and remittance of your prize money to a designated account of your choice. Remember, all prize money must be claimed not later than Two Weeks after notice. 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 in every one of your correspondences with our manager. Furthermore, should there be any change of your address, do inform your claims manager as soon as possible.
Congratulations again from all our staff and thank you for being part of our promotions program.
Sincerely,
MARY DE KRUGER
THE PROMOTIONS MANAGER,
EMAIL: plelotto@yahoo.com
PEOPLE INTERNATIONAL LOTTO SWEEPSTAKES LOTTERY

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam