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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
• Support our efforts to stop scams!
  
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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")
  • "foreign service manager" (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.
  • +27769263636 (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.
  • rsainsurance@aim.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: Coca Cola <co_cosa2@hotmail.com>
Date: Fri, 14 Sep 2007 03:28:31 +0200
Subject:



FROM THE DESK OF THE PROMOTIONS MANAGER,MRS. GRACE KHUMALOCOCA COLA/S.A.2010WORLD CUP LOTTERY.(Customer Services)Ref: FER/4690/6103/24Batch:245-379-482Winning No:2-9-22-23-24-30
2010 LOTTERY AWARDWe happily annouce to you the draw of South African Coca Cola 2010 World CupBid
Lottery Award International programs held in SA,Congratulations your emailisamong theseven lucky winning, that won$2,000,000.00{Two million United StateDollars}Eachinthe just concluded draw held to promote South African 2010 WorldCup,sponsoredbycocacola british american tobacco companies south africa.for prize claiming,This Lottery was promoted and sponsored by some multinational companies asincluding Bill Gate, and some other SA governmental personalities part oftheirsocialresponsibility to promote South Africans 2010 world cup award. the citizensinthe communities where they have operational base.Co-coordinator
NAME:..................................ADDRESS:...............................NATIONALITY:...........................SEX:...................................AGE:...................................PHONE/MOBILE:..........................FAX:...................................OCCUPATION:............................COMPANY:...............................BATCH/WINNING NUMNBER:............................................Your Email Attached to Winning No:2-9-22-23-24-30 and Batch:245-379-482.CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!To process your claims you are hereby advice to contact the Claim Agentimmediatly and feed below information:
PLEASE CONTACT YOUR CLAIM AGENT.
CLAIM AGENT NAME:Dr Peter NgubeniFOREIGN SERVICE MANAGER,S.A INSURANCE AND OTHER SERVICES (PTY) LTD .FOR YOUR IMMEDIATE PAYMENTTELEPHONE NO.+27 76-926-3636,Email;rsainsurance@aim.com
Call your claim agent on the phone immediately you recieve this mail. Forsecurity reasons, we advice all winners to keep this informationconfidentialfrom thepublic until your claim is processed and your prize released to you. This ispart ofour security protocol to avoid dual claiming and unwarranted takingadvantage ofthisprogram by non-participant or unofficial personnel.Congratulations once again on your winnings!!!Yours Faithfully,MRS. GRACE KHUMALO
_________________________________________________________________
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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam