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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
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• 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:
  • "claims 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.
  • +447031817536 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
  • +27837134137 (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.
  • don_nkosi1@yahoo.co.uk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: WORLD ONLINE LOTTERY <worldnetdraw47@hotmail.com>
Date: Tue, 7 Aug 2007 14:32:48 +0200
Subject: AWARD NOTIFICATION:(claim your prize)



ONLINE AWARD NETWORK PROMOTION 2007IN CONJUCTION WITH UK LOTTERYDIRECTOR OF THE PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT REF: NO EG/033-20737-750/25/08/07 BATCH: 340/1608/RDL. PIN:2WR407Q
ATTENTION: SIR/MADAM.
AWARD NOTIFICATION:

This is to inform you that you have won a prize award money of Eight Hundred and twenty Thousand Dollars ($820,000,00.) for the month of August, 2007 Prize promotional draw which is organized and sponsored by Internet service providers,giant software companies and corporate bodies aimed at encoraging internet use.
Internet service providers randomly collects all the email addresses of the people that are active online, among the millions that subscribed to Yahoo and Hotmail and few from other e-mail service accounts,accordingly several people are selected monthly to benefit from this promotion and you emerged as one of our lucky winners in this category.
You won this lottery award because you are active online.All email addresses were selected via the net to mark world Internet day.This is part of the program to promote Internet in the world
PAYMENT OF PRIZE AND CLAIM Winners shall be paid in accordance with their Settlement/payment Centre,this Award must be claimed no later than 15 days from date of Draw Notification. Any prize not claimed within this period will be forfeited.Your prize falls within Afro-Asian claims district,therefore contact the agent below for assistance.
MR DONALD NKOSI OF DONKOSI AGENCY & CONSULTING(PTY) Tel:+27 83 713 4137E-Mail: don_nkosi@yahoo.co.ukE-Mail: don_nkosi1@yahoo.co.uk
You are advised to send the following information to your Claims Agent to facilitate the release of your fund to you. 1. Full name.........................................................................................2. Country...........................................................................................3. Contact Address...............................................................................4. Telephone Number...........................................................................5. fax Number(if any)......................................................................................6. Marital Status....................................................................................7. Occupation.......................................................................................8. Date of birth.....................................................................................9. Gender.................................................................................................
Your fund is secured under a comprehensive insurance policy in your name, which permits nobody or group of persons to subtract from it. Due to mixed up of some numbers and names. We ask that you keepyour award details top secrete from public notice until your claims has been processed and your money remitted to your nominated account. As this is part of our security protocol to avoid double claiming or disqualifications.
Furthermore, should there be any change of address, do please inform your claims agent as soon as possible. Congratulations again from all members of staff and thank you for being a part of our promotions program.
Yours Sincerely
MR V.BROWN.(Prize Award Director)+44 703 181 7536
All rights reserveduk lottery 2007.
_________________________________________________________________
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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam