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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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• What can you do when you receive 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:

• 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:
  • "from the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • "claim agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "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 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.
  • +27739801998 (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.
  • r_mbofana@yahoo.com.au (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
  • r_mbofana1@yahoo.com.au (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: info@oldmutuallottery.au
Date: Wed, 08 Mar 2006 07:20:16 +0200
Subject: Congratulation!!! Your lottery winning notification

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

Date: 08/03/2006,
Ref: 475061725,
Batch:7056490902/188,
Winning No: 2,9,22,23,24,30 Bonus Number 5

CONGRATULATIONS Sir/Madam,

We are delighted to inform you of your prize release on the 04
March 2006 from the Australian International Lottery program.

Your name and your e-mail was attached to ticket number; 47061725
07056490902 serial number 7741137002. 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$2,000,000.00
(TWO MILLION UNITED STATES DOLLARS) in cash.
credit file ref: ILP/HW 47509/02 from the total cash prize of
US$32,000,000.00 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 Africa representative
office in Johannesburg, South Africa. As indicated in your play
coupon and your prize of US$2,000,000.00 will be released to you
from this regional branch office in Johannesburg. 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.RICHARD MBOFANA
Email: r_mbofana@yahoo.com.au
Email: r_mbofana1@yahoo.com.au
Mobile: +27-739-801-998
Office Address: Old mutual Building, Henley Road
Auckland park Gauteng 7405
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

PATRICIA NKOMO
(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