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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.

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)
• 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.
  • +27733859880 (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.
  • telfordbuba_2000@hotmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "southafrican draw" <southafricandraw2006_0119@hotmail.com>
Date: Wed, 07 Mar 2007 15:35:06 +0200
Subject: LOTTERY WINNING NOTIFICATION

FROM THE DESK OF THE PROMOTION MANAGER
SHAWSTAKERS LOTTERY, SOUTH AFRICA.

Attention:Sir/Madam,

We are pleased to inform you of our announcement today, 7TH MARCH,
2007] of
winners in the SHAWSTAKERS LOTTERY Promotional draw held on the 30TH
DECEMBER,
2006.

Participants were selected through a computer ballot system drawn from
2,500,000 email addresses of individuals and companies from Africa,
America,
Asia, Australia, Canada, Europe, Middle East, and New Zealand as part
of our
electronic business Promotions Program.

You are qualified for the draw as a result of your visiting various
e-business website we are running on the Internet.A ticket number
100-309-7482,with serial number 111 410-887 was attached to your entry
which
drew the lucky numbers 1 10 29 37 45 49 and consequently won in the
secondcategory.

You are therefore awarded a cash prize of US$820,000.00, which is the
winning payout for Second category winners.This is from the total prize
money of
US$13,650,000.00 shared among several international/local winners in
the
Second category.CONGRATULATIONS!

You are to file in your claim to the director of claims
department in Republic of South Africa with the information below to
arrange
for your payout,


(MR.TELFOR BUBA)
Email:telfordbuba_2000@hotmail.com

CONTACT NUMBER.+27-73-385-9880.

_________________________________________________________________
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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam