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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:

• 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:
  • "cheque " (Beware of any scheme that involves cashing checks or money orders and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere - you'll be liable for the entire amount if the checks or money orders turn out to be fake, even after you have received and forwarded cash)
• 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.
  • +27732264202 (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.
  • claimoffice.clerk7@yahoo.co.uk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "DR PATRICK CLERK" <claimoffice.clerk6@yahoo.co.uk> (may be fake)
Reply-To: claimoffice.clerk8@yahoo.co.uk
Date: Sat, 9 Sep 2006 18:19:08 +0200
Subject: NOTIFICATIONS

FROM:THE AWARDS MANAGER
INTERCONTINENTAL LOTTERY SOUTH AFRICA.
296 PROES STREET PRETORIA CENTRAL,
PRETORIA.0001 SOUTH AFRICA.

Attention: Sir/madam

We are pleased to inform you the announcement yesterday of the winnings of the lotto
intercontinental international lottery program,held on Saturday 9th September 2006.You or your companies
email,attached to ticket number 53i-721B draw the lucky numbers 8- 14-25-40-43-48-33,and consequently
won the lottery in the second international category.

You have therefore been approval for a lump sum payout of US$1,200,000 in cash credited to file with Ref
No:ILS/8033113427/04 and Batch No:44/4107F82/12. This is from total prize money of US$24,000,000.00
shared among 20 winners in this category.

All participants were selected through a computer balloting system drawn from over 285,000 companies and
individuals from Australia,NewZealand,Africa,Europe,North America,South
America and Asia as part of our international promotion program for the year,conducted bi-annually.

CONGRATULATIONS!
Your fund is now deposited with our finance firm here in Pretoria South Africa,insured in your name awaiting
collection by cheque or wire transfer. Due to mix up of some numbers and names,we ask that
you keep this award strictly private and from public until your claim has been fully processed and your
total prize money remitted to your bank account of your choice.
This is part of our security protocol to avoid double claiming or inscrupulous acts by participants of this
program.

We hope that with a part of your prize money,you will participate in our end of the year high stake of US$58
million international lottery slot in December 2006.For immediate collection of your prize money,please contact directly our payment co-ordinator in South
Africa.

DR PATRICK CLERK,
Payment co-ordinator
South Africa payment office
Tel/fax +27732264202
Email:claimoffice.clerk7@yahoo.co.uk

All prize money must be claim within one month on the receipt of this winning notification.After this date
all unclaimed fund/winnings will be returned back to the treasury as invalid.
All correspondence to PATRICK CLERK,should have this email sent along with your contact Address,country of
residence and your E-mail address. Furthermore,should there be any change of your
address,do inform our payment co-ordinator as soon as possible.Congratulation again from all our staff and
thank you for being part of our programme.

Omar Winfred,
promotion manager,awards
LOTTO INTERCONTINENTAL LOTTERY SOUTH AFRICA.
ADDRESS:296 PROES STREET PRETORIA CENTRAL,
PRETORIA.0001 SOUTH AFRICA.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam