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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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Fraud email example:

From: mathsipho@executivemail.co.za
Date: Sat, 09 Apr 2005 13:40:05 -0800
Subject: AWARD NOTIFICATION

I wom Lotto. Com,
46 Richbay Avenue,
Cape Town, SOUTH AFRICA

FROM: PROMOTIONS MANAGER,
INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS/PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT,
REF: ZAR/67773/2005
BATCH: 34/05542/ZIE
ATTENTION:
RE/ AWARD NOTIFICATION; FINAL NOTICE
We are pleased to inform you from I Wom Lottery. of the Lottery Held
on 8th of April 2005, which your e mail address happens to, be One of
our category (A) winner, from the announcement today 9th of April , 2005
as one of our Easter lucky winners of the I WOM LOTTERY draws.
Participants in the draws were selected through a computer ballot
System drawn from 2,500,000 e-mail addresses of individuals and Companies
from Africa, America, Asia, Australia,Canada,Europe, Middle East and
New Zealand as part of our electronic business Promotions Program.
You are qualified for the draw as a result of you visiting various
websites we are running the Electronic-business promotions for You/Your
Company e-mail address, attached with REFERENCE NUMBER: ZAR/67773/2005
BATCH NUMBER: 34/05542/ZIE with serial number 818-09 drew the lucky numbers
7-8-40-15-3-49 and consequently won our New Year (2005) lottery You have
therefore been approved for a lump sum pay out of Euro1, 200,000.00 in cash,
this is the winning payout for First category Winners. This is from the
total prize money of Euro15.5 Million shared among the winners in the First
category.
CONGRATULATIONS!
Your winnings should be claimed from our claims Department as we have notified them. Due to the mix-up that may arise from emails of winners and numbers we ask that you keep this award strictly from public notice until your claim has been processed and your money
remitted to you. This is part of our security protocol to avoid double
claiming or unscrupulous acts by participants of this program.
To begin your claim, please contact your claim agent

Anti-fraud resources: