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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: "free lotto" <freelotto_fr@hotmail.com>
Date: Fri, 16 Sep 2005 08:15:38 +0000
Subject: LOTTERY COORDINATOR

MR. VICTOR DIEMI.
FREE LOTTO PROMOTIONS
REF NUMBER: SLI/421/960/05
BATCH NUMBER: ST-688-SN13-05
www.freelotto.com
Dear Winner,

We are pleased to inform you that as a result of our recent lottery draw
held on the 15th of September 2005. Your e-mail address attached to ticket
number 27522465896-532 with serial number 652-662 drew lucky numbers
05-09-17-24-26-38, which consequently won in the 2nd category. You have
therefore been approved for a lump sum pay out of E1,500,000.00 (One
Million, Five Hundred Thousand Euros only)

Note that all participants in this lottery program have been selected
randomly through a computer ballot system drawn from over 20,000 companies
and 30,000,000 individual email addresses from all search engines and
websites. This promotional program takes place every year, and is promoted
and sponsored by eminent personalities like the Sultan of Brunei, Bill Gates
of Microsoft Inc and other corporate organizations. This is to encourage the
use of the Internet and computers worldwide.

For security purpose and clarity, we advise that you keep your winning
information confidential until your claims have been processed and your
money remitted to you. This is part of our security protocol to avoid double
claims and unwarranted abuse of this program by some participants. We look
forward to your active participation in our next year US$50 Million slot.

You are requested to contact our Lottery coordinator strictly by the email
below: diemi@myway.com. This is to assist you with your winnings and
subsequent payments immediately. All winnings must be claimed not later than
one month after the date of this notice. Please note, in order to avoid
unnecessary delays and complications, remember to quote your reference
number and batch numbers in all correspondence. Furthermore, should there be
any change of address do inform our agent as soon as possible.
Congratulations once more and thank you for being part of our promotional
program.

NOTE: YOU ARE AUTOMATICALLY DISQUALIFIED IF YOU ARE BELOW 18 YEARS OF AGE OR
SEEN TO DOUBLE CLAIM THROUGH ANY OTHER COORDINATOR.

Sincerely yours
MR. VICTOR DIEMI.
(LOTTERY COORDINATOR)
diemi@myway.com


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