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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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• 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:

• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "claim agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "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)
• 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.
  • +27781114404 (South Africa, prepaid mobile phone)

Fraud email example:

From: Swiss Bonanza <swissgames_089@hotmail.com>
Date: Thu, 25 Oct 2007 16:36:20 +0000
Subject: CONGRATULATION! YOU WON $1M USD /ONLINELOTTO BONANZA.



YOU WON $1M USD /ONLINELOTTO BONANZA CANADIAN/SWISS/ASIA/AFRICA LOTTERY ONLINE GAMING CORPORATION Our Dear Winner, You won the sum of $1.M,(One million United States Dollars from the World International Internet Lottery and Gaming Corporation).The winning ticket was selected from a Data Base of Internet Email Users, from which your Email Address came out as one of the winning coupon. We hereby contact you to claim the winning amountquickly as this is a monthly lottery.Failure to claim your win will result into thereversion of the funds to our following month lottery. You are therefore requested to contact immediately ourClaims Department of your group below quoting your winning number from our website result below.NOTE: To confirm that you have the winning number for the Wed Oct3, 3 17 18 24 31 32 Bonus 42 Draw visit: http://www.canada.com/findit/lotteries/results.aspx?id=6 confirmunder lotto 6/49To begin your claim, please contact your claim agent; Name: Dr. James Temba Tel: +27 78 111 44 04Email: worldwideagentoffice@yahoo.comJohannesburg Regional Office:123 Rivonia Road, morningside, Sandton JhbSouth Africa. Provide the following informations needed to process your winning claim. Full Names ................................... Age: .................................. Sex: ................................... Residential address: ................... Nationality: ............................ Occupation: ............................. Post held: .............................. Tel(s): .................................. Fax: ..................................... Winning number...........................Company name: ............................ Congratulations once more from our members of staff and thank you for being part of our promotional program.Regards. Mrs.Anne Colsweat.(Co-ordinator)
_________________________________________________________________
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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam