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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.

 

 

Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: "UK NATIONAL LOTTERY" <uknlotterynews@zwallet.com> (may be fake)
Date: Sat, 8 Oct 2005 14:53:25 +0200
Subject: CONTACT YOUR EUROPEAN CLAIM AGENT

UK NATIONAL LOTTERY
PO BOX 1010, LIVERPOOL
L70 1NL
UNITED KINGDOM
REF: LSUK/2031/8161/05 BATCH: R3/A312-59

WINNING NOTIFICATION

WE ANNOUNCE TO YOU THE DRAW (#999) HELD ON WED, 20TH JULY 2005.

YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS ATTACHED TO TICKETNUMBER: 56475600545 188 WITH SERIAL NUMBER 5368/02 DREW THE LUCKY NUMBERS: 04,29,39,41,43,45,42. THIS SUBSEQUENTLY WON YOU THE MATCH 5 PLUS BONUS.
YOU HAVE THEREFORE BEEN APPROVED TO CLAIM A TOTAL SUM OF £1,251,420.00 (ONE MILLION, TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY ONE THOUSAND, FOUR HUNDRED AND TWENTY POUNDS STERLING) IN CASH CREDITED TO FILE NO: KTU/9023118308/03.
ALL PARTICIPANTS FOR THE ONLINE VERSION WERE SELECTED RANDOMLY FROM THE
WORLD WIDE WEB (WWW) THROUGH A COMPUTER DRAW SYSTEM AND EXTRACTED FROM OVER 100,000 UNIONS, ASSOCIATIONS, INDIVIDUALS AND CORPORATE BODIES EMAIL ADDRESSES THAT ARE LISTED ONLINE. THIS PROMOTION TAKES PLACE QUATERLY.

IN VIEW OF THESE, YOUR £1,251,420.00 WOULD BE RELEASED TO YOU BY ANY OF
OUR PAYMENT OFFICES IN EUROPE.

TO APPLY FOR YOUR CLAIM, PLEASE CONTACT OUR ONLINE CLAIM AGENT BELOW:-
MR. SCOTT ELLIS.
TEL: +44 704-012-8233
FAX: +44-871-733-6779
EMAIL: ONLINECLAIMAGENT@GREATBRITAIN.COM

ENDEAVOUR TO PROVIDE HIM WITH THE INFORMATION(S) BELOW:

1. NAME:
2. ADDRESS:
3. MARITAL STATUS:
4. OCCUPATION:
5. AGE:
6. SEX:
7.NATIONALITY:
9. TEL / FAX NO:
10. DRAW NUMBER ABOVE:

THAT WAY YOUR WINNINGS CERTIFICATE AND ALL OTHER RELEVANT DOCUMENTS /PAPERWORK CAN BE PREPARED FOR YOU. YOU WOULD BE REQUIRED TO
SHOW A PROVE OF IDENTIFICATION WHEN CASHING YOUR CHEQUE I.E. DRIVERS LICENSE OR INTERNATIONAL PASSPORTS FOR SECURITY REASONS,

YOU ARE ADVISED TO KEEP YOUR WINNING INFORMATION CONFIDENTIAL UNTILL YOUR CLAIMS IS PROCESSED AND RELEASE. THIS IS PART OF OUR PRECAUTIONARY MEASURE TO AVOID DOUBLE CLAIMING AND UNWARRANTED ABUSE OF THIS PROGRAM.
PLEASE BE WARNED AND TREAT AS URGENT.
CONGRATULATIONS IN ADVANCE!!!

SIR. JONES DUTCHER
ONLINE CO-ORDINATOR
FOR U.K NATIONAL LOTTERY SWEEPSTAKES INTERNATIONAL PROGRAM


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