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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.

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Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: Winning Notice <claim.urwin@hotmail.com>
Date: Wed, 3 Oct 2007 15:20:20 +0200
Subject: We are pleased to inform you


GOVERNMENT ACCREDITED LICENSED LOTTERY PROMOTERS.NOTICE FOR CATEGORY \"A\" WINNER
Dear Winner,RE: LOTTO INTERNATIONAL NL PROMOTION PRIZE AWARDS WINNING NOTIFICATION
We are pleased to inform you of the result of the just concluded annual final draws of Lotto International Netherlands programs. The online cyber lotto draws was conducted from an exclusive list of 25,000 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 two winners in the category \"A\" with the following:
Ref Number: PC 607 ES 208Batch Number: 26371545-LNI/2006Ticket Number: PCP 002 871
You as well as the other winner are therefore to receive a cash prize of EUR 1,500,000.00.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, verifications, and satisfactory report. To begin the claims processing of your prize winnings you are advised to contact our licensed claims agent for category \"A\"winners with the information below:
Mrs. Mary HansE-mail: winningnote10@yahoo.com.hkPhone: +31 619 705 298Department Director,Netherlands Lottery InternationalAmsterdam, the Netherlands
Yours faithfully,Mrs. Agatha DeBoer,Lotto International Netherland

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Anti-fraud resources: