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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
  
  
• 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:

• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
  • "million us 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!

Fraud email example:

From: steve-johnson-01@hotmail.com
Date: Fri, 11 Aug 2006 06:44:23 +0200
Subject: SOUTH AFRICAN 2010 WORLD CUP BID INTERNATIONAL LOTTERY AWARD.

SOUTH AFRICA 2010 WORLD CUP LOTTERY
COMPUTER PROMOTIONAL DRAW #7

THIS MESSAGE IS FROM THE PROMOTION MANAGER, INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS/PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT
SOUTH AFRICAN 2010 WORLD CUP BID INTERNATIONAL LOTTERY AWARD.
YOU HAVE WON ON THE COMPUTER BALLOT,
THE SUM OF US$ 1.2 MILLION US DOLLARS.

PRIZE AWARD NOTIFICATION

Dear Sir/Madam,
We happily announce to you the draw of the South African Lottery International programs held on the 1st of July, 2006 in Johannesburg.

Your e-mail address attached to ticket number: 72789600475 188 with serial number 1378/06 drew the lucky numbers: 51-7-46-13-37-9 bonus 12, which subsequently won you the lottery in the 2nd category.

You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of US$1,200,000.00 (One Million, Two hundred thousand US Dollars) in cash credited to file SA /9080118308/YZ, FNB 06.

All participants were selected randomly from worldwide web sites through a computer drawn system and extracted from over 1,000,000 Companies.

The winning funds has been insured by Hollard Insurance Group (HIG).

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam