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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:

• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "million united state 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)
  • "00,000.00" (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)
  • "united state dollar" (this email uses bad English)
• 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.
  • +27737868904 (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.
  • drpaulbenson@hotmail.com

Fraud email example:

From: "notification award" <award028@livedoor.com>
Date: Thu, 29 May 2008 19:08:38 +0200
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS!! YOU HAVE WON $2,000,000.00. CONTACT. PAUL BENSON


PROMOTION/PRIZE AWARD

THE ANANZI GOLF/FLALOTTERY AND TELKOMSA COMPANY OFFICIAL PRIZE
NOTIFICATION

We are pleased to inform you of the result of the just concluded annual
final draws held to promote South Africa 2010 World Cup, by Ananzi Golf
in conjunction with the British Coca-Cola, Telkomsa Company and Flalottery
organization Promotion.Your email was among the Lucky winners who won
$2,000,000.00 {Two million United State Dollars} each in the 2008
PROMOTION.

However the results were released today and your Email Address was
attached to ticket number (7PWYZ2008) and ballot number BT:12052008/20) Your
winning numbers No:16 18 21 27 36 43 bonus No:44 Winning numbers for Sat
Apr 5 draw, visit the previous winners in Flalottery:
http://www.flalottery.com/inet/winnersMain.do The online draws was
conducted by a random selection of email addresses from an exclusive list
of 29,031,643 E-mail addresses of individuals and corporate bodies picked by
an advanced automated random computer search from the internet. However, no
tickets were sold but all email addresses were assigned to different ticket
numbers for representation and privacy.

The selection process was carried out through random selection in our
computerized email selection machine (TOPAZ) . This Lottery is approved by
the British/US/SA Gaming Board and also licensed by the The International
Association of Gaming Regulators
(IAGR).This lottery is the 3rd of its kind and we intend to sensitize the
public. To begin the claim processing of your prize you are to contact Dr.
Paul Benson as stated below:
NAME: DR. PAUL BENSON.
Email: drpaulbenson@hotmail.com Or claimsdepartment@telkomsa.net
TEL: +27 73 786 8904
Please provide the following details for processing of your claim. And send
to your claiming agent. Dr. Benson Call him on the phone.
NAME:..................................
ADDRESS:...............................
NATIONALITY:...........................
SEX:...................................
AGE:...................................
PHONE/MOBILE:..........................
FAX:...................................
OCCUPATION:............................
COMPANY:...............................
TICKETS/BALLOT:............................................

Accept our hearty congratulations once again!

Yours Faithfully,
Management.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam