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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: "Claims Office" <info@bnl.org>
Reply-To: <claimsoffice.dept@gmx.co.uk>
Date: Tue, 25 Aug 2009 14:10:59 +0100
Subject: Final Notification (Ref: UK/9420X/05)

The British National Lottery
P O Box 10103b Liverpool,
L30 1RD United Kingdom
Ref: UK/9420X/05
Batch: 074/05/ZY369

This is to inform you that you have been
selected for a cash prize of 1,000,000
(British Pounds) held on the 10th of August
2009 in London (United Kingdom).Theselection
process was carried
out through random selection in Our
computerized email selection system (ESS)
London Uk. Fill the below:

Names:
Address:
Country:
Phone No:
Occupation:
Age:
Sex:

Agent Name: Mr. Greg Peterson
Tel: +44 704 570 3256
Email: (claimsoffice.dept@gmx.co.uk)

Anti-fraud resources: