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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: "BONO LOTTERY INTERNATIONAL SPAIN" <infomailersec17@msn.com>
Date: Thu, 20 Oct 2005 11:58:23 +0000
Subject: winning notification

FROM THE DESK OF THE PROMOTIONS MANAGER,
INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS AWARD DEPARTMENT

Ref: FER/4690/6103/24
Batch:245-379-482
Winning No:701/RMD/123

Attn: We happily announce to you the draw of the Bono Lottery International
Program held on the 26th of September,2005. Your name "email address" was
attached
to ticket number; 12324277 serial number 6663817262 This batch draws the
lucky numbers as follows 2-9-22-23-24-30 bonus number 5, which consequently
won the lottery in the second category.

You hereby have been approved lump sum pay of? 1,000,000.00 (ONE MILLION
DOLLARS)file from the total cash prize of ?15,000,000.00 shared
amongst ten lucky winners based on their category.

All participants "email address" were selected through a computer balloting
system drawn from Nine hundred thousand names from Canada,Australia,United
States,Asia, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Oceanic as part of our
international
promotions program which is conducted annually.

This Lottery was promoted and sponsored by some multinational companies as
part of their social responsibility to the citizens in the communities where
they have operational base.
To process your claims you are hereby advice to contact the appointed agent
below with your Full Name, Contact Home and Office Address Tel & Fax Number
for easy communication.

MR.NELSON SMITH
OCEANIC AGENCIA SPAIN
Email:oceanicagencia@netscape.net

Please quote your reference, batch and winning number which can be found
on the top left corner of this notification as well as your full names and
address to help locate your file easily.

For security reasons, we advice all winners to keep this information
confidential
from the public until your claim is processed and your prize released to
you. This is part of our security protocol to avoid dual claiming and
unwarranted
taking advantage of this program by non-participant or unofficial personnel.
Note, all winnings must be claimed before 29th of October, 2005 otherwise
your
prize will be returned as Unclaimed and eventually donated to charity.

Congratulations once again on your winnings!!!

Best Regards
Angela Sanchez
Co-ordinator
BONO LOTTERY INTERNATIONAL SPAIN.


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