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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.

 

 

Fraud email example:

From: "Mary Anders" <info_bnl001@msn.com>
Date: Sat, 17 Sep 2005 22:34:05 +0000
Subject: WINNING NOTIFICATION

British Lottery Headquarters:
Customer Service,
28 TANFIELD ROAD,
CROYDON.LONDON.

Ref: BTL/491OXI/04
Batch: 12/25/0304

17th of September 2005

WINNING NOTIFICATION:

We happily announce to you the draw of the British Lottery
International
programs held on the 1st of August 2005 in London. Your e-mail address
attached to ticket number: 564 75600545-188 with Serial number 5388/02
drew
the lucky numbers: 31-6-26-13-35-7, which subsequently won you the
lottery
in the 2nd category. You are therefore, been approved to claim a total
sum
of US$2,500,000.00(Two Million, Five Hundred Thousand, United States
Dollars) in cash credited to file RPC/9080118308/04.This is from a
total
cash prize of US $125 Million dollars, and shared amongst the first
Fifty
(50) lucky winners in this category.

This year Lottery Program Jackpot is the largest ever for British
Lottery
.The estimated $125 million jackpot would be the sixth-biggest in U.K.
history. The biggest was the $363 million jackpot that went to two
winners
in a May 2000 drawing of The Big Game, Mega Millions' predecessor.

Please note that your lucky winning number falls within our European
booklet
representative office in Europe as indicated in our play coupon. In
view of
this, your US$2,500,000.00 (Two million, five hundred thousand, United
States Dollars) would be released to you by our affiliate bank in
London.

Our agent will immediately commence the process to facilitate the
release of
your funds to you as soon as you make contact with her.

All participants were selected randomly from World Wide Web site
through
computer draw system and extracted from over 100,000 companies. This
promotion takes place annually. For security reasons, you are advised
to
keep your winning information confidential till your claims is
processed and
your money remitted to you in whatever manner you deem fit to claim
your
prize. This is a part of our precautionary measure to avoid double
claiming
and unwarranted abuse of this program by some unscrupulous elements.
Please
be warned. To file for your claim, please contact our fiduciary agent with
the below details for processing of your claims.

AGENT: Aray Carlos
EMAIL: aray_carlos@yahoo.com

To avoid unnecessary delays and complications, please quote your
Reference/Batch numbers in any correspondences with us or our
designated
agent. Congratulations once more from all members and staffs of this
program. Thank you for being part of our promotional lottery program.

Sincerely,
Mrs. Mary Anders
Zonal Coordinator
BRITISH NATIONAL LOTTERY.


Anti-fraud resources: