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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

The so-called "419" scam is a type of fraud dominated by criminals from Nigeria and other countries in Africa. Victims of the scam are promised a large amount of money, such as a lottery prize, inheritance, money sitting in some bank account, etc.

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.

Keep in mind that scammers DO NOT use their real names when defrauding people.
The criminals either abuse names of real people or companies or invent names or addresses.
Any real people or companies mentioned below have NO CONNECTION to the scammers!

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:

Fraud email example:

From: keran@kerankeran.orangehome.co.uk
Date: Mon, 22 Jan 2007 13:22:36 +0100 (CET)
Subject: CONGRATULATION


DE NEDERLANDSE STAATSLOTERIJ
PALEISSTRAT 5
2514 JA DEN HAAG
www.staatsloterij.nl
Dear Lucky Winner,
We are pleased to inform you of the result of the just concluded annual final draws of Staats Loterij Sponsering International Netherlands programs.
The online cyber lotto draws was conducted from an exclusive list of 62,000 e-mail addresses of individual and corporate bodies picked by an advanced automated random computer search from the internet. No tickets were sold. After this automated computer ballot, your e-mail address emerged as one of ten winners in the category +A with the following:
Ref Number: PC 390 ES 215
Batch Number: 26371545-LNI/2006
Ticket Number: PCP 002 874
You as well as the other winners are therefore to receive a cash prize of 1,250,000.00.euro.(One Million,Two Hundred And Fifty Thousand Euro Only) each from the total payout.Your prize award has been insured with your e-mail address and will be transferred to you upon meeting our requirements, statutory obligations, verifications, validations and satisfactory report.
To begin the claims processing of your prize winnings, you are advised
to contact our licensed and accredited claims agent for category +A winners with the information below:
E-mail: staats1loterij@aim.com
MR. JOE VANDERSA
Remittance Department Director,

You are also advised to provide him with the under listed information
as soon as possible:
1. Name in full
2. Address
3. Nationality
4. Age
5. Occupation
6. Phone/Fax
NOTE: All winnings must be claimed not later than 30 days. After this
date all unclaimed funds would be included in the next stake. Remember to
quote your reference information in all correspondence.
You are to keep all lotto information away from the general public especially your reference and ticket numbers. (This is important as a case of double claims will not be entertained).
Thank you and congratulations!!!
Yours faithfully,
Mrs. Keran Poelman,
Games/Lottery Coordinator.
Lotto International Netherlands

Anti-fraud resources: