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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:
  • "claim agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "hundred thousand 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)
  • ",000,000" (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.
  • +27838563817 (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.
  • claimagent_petersen002@yahoo.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: claimagent_petersen002@yahoo.com
Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2007 17:11:17 -0800
Subject: WINNING NOTIFICATION




SOUTH AFRICA 2010 WORLD CUP LOTTERY BID
#31 BRIXON COURT EAST GATE MALL,
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA.

Dear Winner,

We are pleased to inform you of the result of the annual draw of the
South African 2010 WORLD CUP LOTTERY BID held in canada.

The online cyber annual draws was conducted from a list of 25,000,000
e-mail addresses of individuals and corporate institutions, picked by
an
advanced automated random computer search from the internet. No tickets
were sold.

Your e-mail address emerged as one of the winners in the 23th/25th
category with the following Qualification Information attached:

WINNING NUMBERS : 60.84.27.17.36
E-MAIL TICKET NUMBER: B9665 75604546 199
FILE REF. NO : SA2010.60.84.27.17.36
SERIAL NUMBER : 97560
DRAW DATE : 18/08/2007

You are therefore to receive a cash prize of USD$500,000.00. (Five
Hundred Thousand United States Dollars) from our total lottery payout.

For security reasons, be advised to keep your winning information
confidential till your claim is processed upon meeting our, statutory
obligations, verifications, and general requirements as double claim
will authomatically disqualify your email ticket number.

To file for your claim, do contact your Lottery Assigned Claims Agent
with the provied contact informations below:

Name:Evanson Petersen
Email:claimagent_petersen002@yahoo.com
Tel : +27-83-856-3817

NOTE: All winnings must be claimed not later than 30 days of this
notification, thereafter unclaimed Winning will be returned to the
South
African Lottery and Gambling Board as unclaimed Lottery Payment to be
included in the next draw. Do always quote your e-mail ticket number
in
your correspondence with your claim agent.

Congratulations once again from our members of staff and thank you for
being part of our Promotional Program.

SIGNED:

MRS. Cindy FRAISER
(PROGRAM ZONAL CO-ORDINATOR)

SPONSORED BY: South Africa
This email may contain confidential and/or privileged information which
is strictly intended solely for the use of the person(s) with the
intended recipient e-mail address as filed

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam