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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.

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Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

• 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.
  • +27730222833 (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.
  • owendouglasmgl@yahoo.com

Fraud email example:

From: "mega flash" <megaflash_2@hotmail.com>
Date: Fri, 03 Nov 2006 13:32:01 +0200
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS!!!

CONGRATULATIONS!!! SOUTH AFRICAN WORLD CUP 2010 FREE LOTTERY DRAW    DEAR Winner   We are please to announce you as one of the 10 lucky winners in the Free Lottery draw held on the 20th of October. 2006. All 10 winning addresses were randomly selected from a batch of 20,000,000 ,00 international emails.. World cup Draw. Consequently,you have therefore been approved for a total payout of USD$  2,000,000,00  (TWO MILLION DOLLARS) only. Your email address emerged along side 10 others as a category to the winners in this year's Annual Lottery Program which will be helding once every year till the 2010 finals in South Africa.   The world cup lottery 2010 is proudly sponsored by the Microsoft Corporation,Coca Cola,Nokia,MTN,the Intel Group, Toyota ,Toshiba, Dell computers, Mckintosh .And mostly by the South African Government.The world cup free lottery draw is held once a year.And is so organized to encourage the use of internet and computers.And also to advertise the South Africa 2010 World Cup world wide.We are proud to say that over US $ 20 Million are won annually in more than 15 countries world wide.     World cup 2010 south africa . Consequently,you have therefore been approved for a total pay out of usd$2,000,000.00  (Two million  dollars) only.The following particulars are attached to your lotto payment order:   (i) winning numbers: 37-13-43-85-67-11 (ii) email ticket number: FL754/22/76 (iii) lotto code number: FL09622CH (iv) the file Ref number: FL/04/736207152/CH   For security reasons, you are advised to keep your winning information confidential till you claim your prize money.This is part of our precautionary measure to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program.Please be warned.     NAME:...................................... ADDRESS:................................ NATIONALITY:........................... SEX:MALE................................ AGE:...................................... PHONE/MOBILE:................... FAX:...................................... OCCUPATION:..................... COMPANY:............................... BATCH/WINNING NUMNBER: CONTACT  CLAIM MANAGER  MR.OWEN DOUGLAS TEL:+27 730222833 Email:owendouglasmgl@yahoo.com CONGRATULATIONS!!! Please you are warned, DO NOT DISCLOSE YOUR WINNING INFORMATION TO ANY BODY.   If you have any other enquiries, do not hesitate to contact us.  We sincerely CONGRATULATE you for being the winner of the MASTER MEGA-MILLION LOTTERY.   MR. JAMES CAMERON  THE DIRECTOR OF INFORMATION  INTERNATIONAL MEGA-MILLION LOTTERY.             Copyright © 1994-2006 The South Africa  All rights reserved. Terms of Service - Guideline

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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam