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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.

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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:
  • "million 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.
  • +27730408008 (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.
  • deneysreitz@myway.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: mega lotto <saeurplottry83@hotmail.com>
Date: Fri, 28 Sep 2007 03:38:42 -0600
Subject: CONGRATULATION! CONGRATULATION!! CONGRATULATION!!!






Microsoft Award Team
HEAD OFFICE WELLINGTON HOUSE
EAST ROAD,WEST RAND,JOHANNESBURG,
SOUTH AFRICA

CONGRATULATION! CONGRATULATION!! CONGRATULATION!!!

Dear. Sir/ Madam,

The prestigious Microsoft and South Africa 2010 world cup has set out and successfully organised a Sweepstakes marking the year 2007 anniversary. Rolled out over US$32,000,000.000 for our this year Anniversary Draws. Participants for the draws were randomly selected and drawn from a wide range of web hosts which we enjoy their patronage.

The selection was made through a computer draw system attaching personalised email addresses to ticket numbers. Microsoft and AOL are now the largest Internet companies & in effort to make sure that Internet Explorer remains the most widely used program, Microsoft and South Africa 2010 world cup are running an e-mail beta test.


Your email address have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of ( US$2M) Two million United States Dollars in cash credited to File B9665 75604546 199.This is from a total cash prize of (Thirty two million United States dollars) shared among the first 400 lucky winners in this category world-wide. Please note that your lucky winning number falls within our lottery booklet representative office in South Africa as indicated in the play coupon. The draws registered as Draw number one was conducted in, South Africa on the 13th of April,2007.

Please be informed by this winning notification to file your claims immediately.You are adviced to make contact to your referred agent who shall by duty guide you through the process to facilitate the release of your winning prize.


For security reasons, you are advised to keep your winning information confidential till your claims are processed and your money remitted to you in whatever manner you deem fit to claim your prize.


This is part of our precautionary measure to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program by some unscrupulous elements.To file for your claim, please contact our Claiming Manager immediately.

Contact Person: MR DENEYS REITZEmail: (deneysreitz@myway.com) Tel: +27-73-04-0-8008 Fax 27-86-604-9390

We dedicate our special thanks & gratitude to Bill Gates and his associates.We wish you the best of luck as you spend your good fortune in this season.

Mrs. Linda Rose. Microsoft Promotion Team Vice President.
_________________________________________________________________
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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam