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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:

• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "fiduciary agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
• 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.
  • +27837494916 (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.
  • pokerclaimfiles@websurfer.co.za

Fraud email example:

From: pickwinnersonline701@702mail.co.za
Date: Wed, 14 Feb 2007 10:16:36 +0200
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS YOU HAVE WON

Ref No: ZAR/J0021-671/SA2007
Batch No: 002472/B8992-60

Dear Email Owner,

We happily announce to you today 14th Febraury 2007, the Draw # (4 2 11 23 82 16 10)
of the POKER WINNER ONLINE ORG. held recently. Your e-mail address attached to
ticket number: 728-10185-03124-78 288 with Serial number 6712/07 drew the lucky
numbers 01-05-13-267-32-05 which subsequently won you the lottery in the 2nd
category i.e. Thunder ball Jackpot.

You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of US$2,400,000.00(Two
Million, Two Hundred Thousand, United States Dollars)in cash credited to file
RPC/908011 8308/04.

All participants for the online version were selected randomly from World Wide Web
sites through computer draw system and extracted from over 100,000 unions,
associations and corporate bodies that are listed online.

This promotion takes place monthly. Please note that your lucky winning number falls
within our International Booklet representative office here in South Africa as
indicated in your winning numbers. Your fund is now available for claim. Due to the
mix up of some numbers and email address,we request you to quote your Reference and
Batch numbers when you contact our fiduciary agent. We also advice you to keep this
award strictly from Public Notice until your claim has been processed. This is part
of precautionary measures to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this
program by some unscrupulous elements Please be warned.

To file for your claim, please contact our fiduciary agent in South Africa.

FIDUCIARY AGENT CONTACT:
MR. JOHN NKOSI
Email:pokerclaimfiles@websurfer.co.za
Tel: +27-83-7494-916

NOTE: YOU ARE REQUIRED TO FILL IN THE BELOW DETAILS FOR THE PROCESSING OF
YOUR CLAIM.

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


PLEASE YOU MUST BE 18 YEARS AND ABOVE TO CLAIM A PRIZE.

To avoid unnecessary delays and complications, please quote our
reference/batch numbers to any correspondences with our designated agent or us.
Congratulations once more from all members and staff of this program, and thank you
for being part of our promotional lottery program.

Sincerely,
Mrs. Mary Allan
Zonal Coordinator.

****NB: Please keep this award strictly from Public Notice until your claim has been
processed****

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam