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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:
  • "from the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • "claim 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.
  • +27833352231 (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.
  • @yahoo.com
  • alextwala@executivemail.co.za

Fraud email example:

From: "alb lottery" <alb_lottery1@hotmail.com>
Date: Thu, 19 Jan 2006 10:07:52 +0000
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS"_YOUR_LOTTERY_WINNING_NOTIFICATION

FROM THE DESK OF THE PROMOTIONS MANAGER,
INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS AWARD DEPARTMENT,

Date: 19/01/2006,
Ref: 475061725,
Batch:7056490902/188,
Winning No: GB8701/LPRC
 
CONGRATULATIONS Sir/Madam,
 
We are delighted to inform you of your prize release on the 14th Jan 2006 from the Australian International Lottery program.

Your name was attached to ticket number; 47061725 07056490902 serial number 7741137002 14/01/2006 This batch draws the lucky numbers as follows 2,9,22,23,24,30 bonus number 5, which consequently won the lottery in the second category.
 
You hereby have been approved lump sum pay of US$1000,000.00 (ONE MILLION DOLLARS) in cash credit file ref: ILP/HW 47509/02 from the total cash prize of US16, 000,000.00 shared amongst sixteen lucky winners, based on their category.

All participants were selected through a computer balloting system drawn form Nine hundred thousand names from Canada, Australia, United States, Asia, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Oceanic as part of our international promotions program which is conducted annually.

This Lottery was promoted and sponsored by some multinational companies as part of their social responsibility to the citizens in the communities where they have operational base.

Further more your name falls within our representative office in South Africa As indicated in your play coupon and your prize of US$1,000,000.00 will be released to you from this regional branch office in Johannesburg South Africa.

We hope with part of your prize, you will participate in our end of year high stakes for US$1.3 Billion international draw.

To begin your claim, please contact your claim agent;

Name: Mr. Alex Twala
Email: twala100alex@yahoo.com, alextwala@executivemail.co.za
Fax: +27-11-484-7297.
Tel: +27-83-335-2231.

Office Address:
  Old Mutual Building,
 Henley Road
 AUCKLAND PARK Gauteng
 South Africa

  Please quote your reference, batch and winning number which can be found on the top left corner of this notification as well as your full names and address to help locate your file easily.

For security reasons, we advice all winners to keep this information confidential from the public until your claim is processed and your prize released to you.
This is part of our security protocol to avoid dual claiming and unwarranted taking advantage of this program by non-participant or unofficial
personnel.

Note, all winnings MUST be claimed with a specified date; otherwise all funds will be returned as Unclaimed and eventually donated to charity

Congratulations once again on your winnings!
 
Best Regards

Susan Davies
(Co-ordinator)

N.B. Anybody under the age of 18 cannot participate in this programme and any breach of confidentiality on the part of the winners will result to disqualification.

Please do not reply to this mail. Contact your claim agent

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam