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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
• Support our efforts to stop scams!
  
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• What can you do when you receive 419 spam
  
  
• Spam archive, Daily index
  

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:

• An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "claim agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "foreign service manager" (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 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.
  • +27763141420 (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.
  • allstatesfinltd@excite.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: southwaylottery2@netscape.net
Date: Sun, 29 Jan 2006 21:06:10 +0200
Subject: NOTIFICATION OF YOUR LOTTO WINNING

NOTIFICATION OF YOUR LOTTO WINNING


We are pleased to inform you today 28th January 2006 as one of the lucky winners
of the SOUTHWAY ELECTRONIC LOTTERY INC draws, held on 21st January 2006 as part of
Our e-business promotional draws.

Participants in the draws were selected through a computer ballot
system drawn from 2,500,000 e-mail addresses of individuals and companies from
Africa, America, Asia, Australia, Canada, Europe, Middle East, and New Zealand
as part of our electronic business Promotions Program.

You qualified for the draw as a result of you visiting various websites we are
running the Electronic-business promotions for. You/Your Company e-mail address
attached with REFERENCE NUMBER: SWELZA 2464568/2005 BATCH NUMBER: 2005-12-WAN with
serial number 724-05 drew the lucky numbers 3-8-25-23-27-45 and consequently won in
the third quarter of the 2005 year draw.

You have therefore been approved for a lump sum pay out of S$2,200,000.00 in
cash, which is the winning payout for First category winners. This is from the
total prize money of US$15,000,000.00 shared among the seven winners in the
First category.

CONGRATULATIONS!

Your winnings should be claimed from our paying Agents. (ALL-STATES FINANCE
LIMITED) as we have notified them. Due to the mix-up that may arise from emails
of winners and numbers, we ask that you keep this award strictly from public
notice until your claim has been processed and your money remitted to you. This
is part of our Security Protocol to avoid double claiming or unscrupulous acts
by participants of this program.

We hope with a part of your prize, you will participate in our quarter of year
(2006) high stakes US$1.2 billion International Lottery. To begin your claim,
please contact our agent who also will be your claims agent.

MR.PETER SHABALALA
FOREIGN SERVICE MANAGER
ALL-STATES FINANCE LIMITED
MELVILLE, SOUTH AFRICA
TEL/FAX +27-76-314-1420
EMIAL:allstatesfinltd@excite.com

For due processing and remittance of your prize money, Remember you must contact
your claim agent not later than two weeks After this date, otherwise, 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
your agent.Furthermore you are seriously advised to keep all winning lottery information
and numbers from the public in line with our company security protocol to avoid
double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program by unscrupulous
individuals. Again, should there be any change in your address, do inform your
claims agent as soon as possible.



Congratulations again from all our staff and thank you for being part of our
Promotions program.

Yours sincerely,

Customers Service Department
Southway Lottery Inc.



N.B. Any breach of confidentiality on the part of the winners will result to
disqualification. Please do not reply to this mail, contact your claims agent.
Anybody below the age of 18 is automatically disqualified.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam