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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: "Geophry Gary" <imfservice13@banknoteclub.com>
Reply-To: imfservice@luckymail.com
Date: Sun, 20 Apr 2008 20:14:11 GMT
Subject: INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND. (IMF)

INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND. (IMF)
FOND MONATAIRE INTERNATIONAL (FMI)
PROGRAMME DE DÉVELOPPEMENT.
SHORT AND MEDIUM-TERM PRIORITY
ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION PROGRAMME (SMAP)
PROMOTION DE DEVELOPPEMENT SOCIAL.
209 CRESCENT STREETS, EAST LONDON,
LONDON-UNITED KINGDOM.
HTTP://WWW.IMF.ORG/EXTERNAL/PUBS/FT/REO/REOREPTS.ASPX


REF: IMF/0326/07IT/SNK/SDVP/2008.


AT YOUR KIND ATTENTION,

WE HAVE THE GREAT PLEASURE TO ANNOUNCE THAT YOU ARE ONE OF THE LUCKY
WINNERS OF THE IMF FUND FOR SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM. OUR GLOBAL
HEADQUARTERS FOR THE SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT PROMOTION IS BASED IN LONDON
UNITED KINGDOM.

THE DRAW WAS CARRIED OUT THROUGH RANDOM DRAW THROUGH OUR AUTOMATED
ELECTRONIC SELECTION PROGRAMME. THE VALUE OF THE TOTAL EARNINGS IS (£800,000 000) MILLION BRITISH POUNDS. YOUR ADDRESS HAS BEEN SELECTED BY
COMPUTER DRAW DURING OUR FIRST DRAW LAST WEEK.

YOU ARE ONE OF THE LUCKY WINNERS FROM THE SHEARED EARNINGS OF £2,000,000 POUNDS.  TO CLAIM YOU’RE WINNING.

PLEASE SEND EMAIL EXCLUSIVELY TO THE GLOBAL HEAD QUARTERS
imfservice@luckymail.com  FOR PROMOTION A LETTER CONTAINING YOUR WINNING
REFERENCE, NAME, ADDRESS,   AND OCCUPATION AND TELEPHONE NUMBER.

KINDLY DEFINE THE NATURE OF THE PROJECT THAT YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE AND
ITS LOCATION. (TOWN AND COUNTRY)

I BRING TO YOUR ATTENTION THAT 50% OF YOUR WINNING MUST BE USED IN
CONNECTION WITH THE PROMOTION OF SOCIAL PROJECTS. IN THREE MONTHS, I
WOULD TAKE PART PERSONALLY IN AN EXTENSIVE TOUR OF AUDIT THAT WILL
TAKE PLACE IN ALL COUNTRIES WHERE WE HAVE WINNERS. THE 10 MOST
SIGNIFICANT ACHIEVEMENTS WILL BE REWARDED IN THE SPECIAL PRIZE IMF
FUND FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT 2008.

RECEIVE OUR CONGRATULATIONS.

PROF. GEOPHRY GARY.
(DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS)
  PROMOTION OFFICE.

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