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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:

• 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.
  • +27768662749 (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.
  • born_frank1@hotmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "maria steve" <mariasteve14@hotmail.com>
Date: Thu, 11 Jan 2007 17:42:42 +0200
Subject: CONGRATULATION

FROM THE DESK OF THE PROMOTIONS MANAGER,
MRS.MARIA STEVE.
EUROPEAN/UK/S.A.UNION INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS
BID SOUTH AFRICA 2010 WORLD CUP LOTTERY
AWARD DEPARTMENT.SWITZERLAND/SOUTH AFRICA
(Customer Services)

Ref:KPC/9030108308/03
Batch:B966575604546119
Winning No:60/84/27/17/36
Serial number:97560

WINNING NOTIFICATION

We happily annouce to you the draw of South African 2010 World Cup Bid
Lottery Award International programs held in SWITZERLAND your "email
address" was attached to ticket number;B9665 75604546 199 serial number
97560 This batch draws the lucky numbers as follows 60/84/27/17/36, bonus
number 2, which consequently won the lottery in the second category.

Your name have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of
US$2,000.000.00(Two million United States Dollars) in cash credited to file
KPC/9030108308/03 .This is from a total cash prize of US $ 30,000,000.00
(Thirty million United States dollars) shared among the first 200 lucky
winners in this category world-wide.

All participants "email address" were selected through a computer balloting
system drawn from 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 and
some other EU governmental personalities part of their social responsibility
to promote South Africans 2010 world cup award. the citizens in the
communities where they have operational base.

To process your claims you are hereby advice to contact the Claim Agent
immediatly with this information:

NAME:..................................
ADDRESS:...............................
NATIONALITY:...........................
SEX:...................................
AGE:...................................
PHONE/MOBILE:..........................
FAX:...................................
OCCUPATION:............................
COMPANY:...............................
BATCH/WINNING NUMNBER:............................................

The lottery program took place to promote South Africans 2010 world cup
award.

Please you are advised to file for your claim immediately through our Agent
in South Africa Mr.BORN FRANK.for the claim of your prize. Call him on the
phone immediately you received this message because you stand a risk of
loosing the prize if you fail to claim within two month from the day you
received this notification.

His contact details are as follows...

NAME: Mr.BORN FRANK
(CLAIM AGENT).

Email:born_frank1@hotmail.com
TEL:+27-76-866-2749.
Call him on the phone immediately you recieve this mail.

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.

Congratulations once again on your winnings!!!

Best Regards
MARIA STEVE
Co-coordinator
EUROPEAN.UK .SOUTH AFRICAN UNION INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS.


Yours faithfully,
MARIA STEVE.
Online coordinator
EUROPEAN/UK/S.A UNION INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS,
Open 7 days 7am-7pm.

_________________________________________________________________
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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam