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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: "MICROWORD CORPORATIONS" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <claimdesk@j-mail.info>
Date: Wed, 3 Jun 2009 09:32:56 +0200
Subject: MICROWORD CORPORATIONS:

MICROWORD CORPORATIONS:
CUSTOMER SERVICE:
MADRID - ESPANA .
REFERENCE NUMBER: MSFT-008-X54-BX
BATCH NUMBER: MSFT-2008- GM-001
YOUR MSFT WORD RESOURCE LINK: www.microword.com
OFFICIAL WINNING NOTIFICATION.
We are pleased to inform you of the released results of Sweepstakes
Promotion organized by Microword Corporations, in conjunction with the
foundation for the promotion of software products, held on 2nd June
2009, in Madrid, Spain.
Your email address won a cash award of Four hundred and eighty
eight thousand six hundred and twenty euros (488,620.00 Euros)
Contact Our Foreign Transfer Manager for claims.
Mr. Fernando Sanchez
Email: info.fernandosz@sify.com
Congratulations!!
Sincerely,
Denim DYZER.
Promotions Manager.
Msft Word Resource Madrid.

Anti-fraud resources: