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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:
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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:
  • "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
  • "from the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
• 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.
  • claimdepartment@starmail.co.za

Fraud email example:

From: starlotteries@starmail.co.za
Date: Fri, 07 Jul 2006 13:01:43 +0200
Subject: STAR PROMOTIONAL DRAW RESULT FOR JUNE 2006

FROM THE DESK OF THE PROMOTION MANAGER,
STAR LOTTERY
JOHANNESBURG,SOUTH AFRICA.

Dear Sir/Madam,

We are pleased to inform you that you have won a cash prize
of $250.000.00(Two Hundred and Fifty Thousand United States
Dollars in Star Lottery Electronic draw published June 30th,
2006.

Your email address was selected through a computer ballot
system and was entered for a draw from a database of
5,500,000 email addresses of individuals from Africa,
America, Asia, Australia, Canada, Europe,Middle East, and
New Zealand as part of our electronic business Promotional
Program.

A ticket number 900-309-6482, with serial number 311
410-887 was attached to your email address which drew the
lucky numbers 1 10 29 37 45 49 and consequently won in the
second category.

CONGRATULATIONS!

To claims your prize, please contact our Claims Manager
with the information below,

Name: Mrs. Joyce Fraiser
Email:claimdepartment@starmail.co.za

You are required to furnish the claims manager with the
following information,

1.Full Names
2.Contact Address
3.Telephone Number and fax Numbers.
4.Age
5.Sex
6.Nationality
7.Occupation
8.Winning numbers
9.Ticket and serial numbers.

Ensure that you contact the claims Manager not later than
14 working days from the day you receive this notification
message for due processing and payment of your prize.


Sincerely,

MRS MARGARET POWELL
THE PROMOTIONS MANAGER,
STAR LOTTERY, SOUTH AFRICA

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam