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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: "SHELL INTERNATIONAL LOTTERY CLAIMS DEPT" <shell_lotto_winnings@msn.com>
Date: Mon, 14 Nov 2005 22:33:31 +0000
Subject: WINNINGS!!!

SHELL LOTTERY INTERNATIONAL.

UN-CLAIMED DEPARTMENT.
CUSTOMER SERVICE CENTER.
WORLD LOTTERY.

Ref: SHL/9420X2/68
Batch: 074/05/ZY369.

DATE: 11TH NOVEMBER 2005.




AWARD NOTIFICATION FINAL NOTICE.

ATTENTION:

I am Graham Johnson, the prize director representing the Shell
International Lottery Corporation's Un-Claimed Department. On NOVEMBER 10th,
2005 at approximately 3:45pm, I tried contacting you, but unfortunately was
unable to get a hold of you. The main reason for electronically mailing you
this letter is to inform you of the reason for my call. Every year we
receive over 5,000 entry forms from different lottery players from around
the world. Precisely speaking, I was just looking at our network to find out
that you were selected as a prize winner on September 24th, 2005 and you
havn't claimed your winnings, for the sum of US $1,000.000 MILLION DOLLARS.
Usually when a winner doesn't claim their money there should be a note that
says why the winner has not claimed their money, and the client file will be
closed. So I am mailing in regards to know why you have not made any effort
to claim your money. You have $1,000,000 Million sitting here, waiting for
you. I dontknow why somebody will wait that long to claim their money?? To
elaborate more, this draw was held in Australia, where our head office is
located. Moreover, if we did not hear from you within 3 weeks from the day
this letter was sent, your file will close and you will no longer be able to
claim your winnings. Our main payment office is located in North America.
This is where you will be receiving your amount of winnings US$1,000.000
MILLION DOLLARS from. Nevertheless, according to the federal and
international law concerning the personal collection of prize winnings, your
bonding fees, broker fees, and tarrif fees, have already been deducted from
your winnings. So congratulations once again.
For more information concerning your winnings, please contact your Claims
Agent
MRS TRACY BLAKES

shell_lotto_agent@nowzer.com



when is a better time to get a hold of you. Due to security precautions, we
advise that you keep your winning information confidential until your claim
has been processed and you have received your certified bank cheque of $
1,000.000 million dollars paid out to you. This is part of our security
protocol to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program by
some participants.
NOTE: In order to avoid unnecessary delays and complications, please
remember to quote your reference and Lot numbers in every correspondence
with your agent. Furthermore, should there be any change of your address, do
inform your claim agent as soon as possible. Congratulations once again from
all members of our staff and thank you for being a part of our promotional
program.


Congratulations from me and members of staff of THE INTERNATIONAL LOTTERY.

Yours faithfully,
Mr Graham Johnson.
Online coordinator for THE INTERNATIONAL LOTTERY
Sweepstakes International Program.







Confidentiality Notice:

Please note that this email, and any files that may be attached to it,is/are
confidential and is/are intended for the sole use of the individual(s) or
entity(ies) to which it/they is/are addressed. Any use,distribution,copying
or disclosure by any other person or entity is strictly prohibited under
applicable law(s). If you received this email in error,please notify the
sender by return email and delete the original message (making sure it is
also deleted from the Deleted Items folder of your mail client).

Opinions, conclusions and other information in this message that do not
relate to official business of INTERNATIONAL LOTTERY and insurance shall be
understood to be neither given nor endorsed by INTERNATIONAL LOTTERY finance
and insurance when addressed to comet finance and insurance clients; and any
information contained in this email is subject to the terms and conditions
of the governing client's contract(s).


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