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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: "lawal amed" <barr_lawal_amed@hotmail.com>
Date: Tue, 11 Oct 2005 09:22:23 +0100
Subject: BRIEF HISTORY OF THE LOTTERY AWARD & REQUIREMENTS.




>>
>
>>>
>>
>>
>>BRIEF HISTORY OF THE LOTTERY AWARD.
>>
>>THIS AWARD WAS SET UP BY THE CEO AND THE CHAIRMAN OF THE
>>MICRO SOFT WARE,MICRO SOFT HAS BEEN CHOSEN AS ONE OF
>>THE FASTEST SYSTEM OF INTERNET BUILD SINCE THE
>>BEGINING OF COMPUTER SYSTEM IN OUR SOCIETY TODAY IT
>>HAS BEEN DELIBRATED SO MANY TIMES IN THE COMPANIES
>>AGENDA WHETHER WE ARE OPERATING ON HIGH VOLTAGE OR
>>NOT.IT WAS DURING THIS SERIALS OF MEETING THAT WE CAME
>>TO AN AGREEMENT NEITHER TO SET UP AN AWARD SYSTEM TO
>>KNOW WHETHER OUR SERVICES ARE OK TO THE SOCIETY AND THE
>>ENTIRE WORLD TOGETHER.WE FINALLY CAME TO CONCLUTIONS
>>ABOUT GOING TO INTERNET SERVICE OF CHOSEN DIFFERENT
>>E-MAIL ADDRESS OF UNKNOW PEOPLE TO REWARD THEM AND
>>ALSO MAKE THEM TO COPE TO THE STANDARD OF LIVING
>>IN THEIR VARIOUS COUNTRY.SO MANY SERVICES LIKE
>>THIS HAVE BEEN DOING PROMOTIONS ALSO,TAKE FOR INSTANCE
>>THE WORLD SPAN,GALILO NET WORK,THESE ARE THE NETWORK
>>THAT LOOK AFTER THE USE OF AIRLINES TICKET
>>CONFIRMATIONS WHICH EVERY ONE KNOWS WHEN THEIR AWARD
>>SYSTEM TOOK OVER.WE ARE HAPPY TO ANNOUCE THESE TO THE
>>ENTIRE WORLD BECAUSE THESE IS THE 3RD STAGE OF OUR
>>AWARD SYSTEM,AND WE WILL EQUALLY BRING TO YOUR NOTICE
>>THAT SINCE SOME OF OUR LUCKY WINNERS LIVES FAR AWAY
>>FROM US WE WILL ADVICE THEM THAT WHAT EVER IS REQUIRED
>>FROM THEM FOR THEIR CHEQUES TO REACH THEM,THEY SHOULD
>>KINDLY MAKE UP TO IT TO AVOID ANY DELAY ON THEIR
>>CHEQUES,ALL CHEQUES HAS BEEN SIGNED AND DELIVERD TO OUR
>>AFFILIATED BANK IN JAKARTA INDONESIA.WE THANK
>>YOU ALL FOR YOUR SUPPORT TO THE USE OF MICRO SOFT
>>SYSTEM.
>>
>>PROVIDE THE BELOW REQUIREMENTS TO ENABLE US GO THROUGH YOUR
>>FILE PROPERLY;
>>
>>1.YOUR FULL NAMES,CONTACT ADDRESS,AGE,PRIVATE TELEPHONE/FAX
>>NUMBERS AND OCCUPATION ARE NEEDED.
>>
>>2.YOUR WINNING TICKET NUMBER.
>>
>>3.A SCANNED COPY OF YOUR INTERNATIONAL PASSPORT,DRIVING
>>LICENSE OR ANY IDENTIFICATION PROOF FOR SECURITY REASONS.
>>
>>
>>SINCERLY YOURS,
>>BARRISETR AMED>
>>
>>
>>---------------------------------
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>---------------------------------
>>.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>---------------------------------
>>Yahoo! for Good
>> Click here to donate to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort.
>
>_________________________________________________________________
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>

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