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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: "The Sun London Lottery Promotion" <pwett05@hotmail.co.uk>
Date: Mon, 28 Nov 2005 11:23:33 +0000
Subject: You have WON our Lottery Promo.

From: The Desk of Dr. Peter Wett.
Lottery Coordinator
SunTrust Lottery Promotions International.
Ref. Number: 132/756/4534
Batch number: 638901527-AMB/02
GRAND FECILITATIONS

Hurray! You have been selected as one of the five lucky winners in the
second edition of the SunTrust Lottery Promotions International draw.
You have therefore been approved for a huge payout of 2.5 Million Pounds
(Two Million, Five Hundred Thousand Pounds Only). How was the selection
process done?

Winners were randomly selected from an initial database of 500,000
emails which was eventually downsized to 5,000 from which we eventually
selected the final and lucky five. The process was done through the
computerized email balloting system selecting emails from The Middle East,
Asia, Africa, Canada, Europe, USA and South America. The process of
collecting your winnings is to be handled by our Prize Transfer Agents. To
ensure a smooth collection of your grand prize, You are to contact our
agents by email or telephone within a week of receiving this notice.
Please find full contact details below:

Mr. Robert Benson.
Payment Officer
Email:suntrustlottery01@yahoo.co.uk
Tel: +44-7031907943.

Please note, when you contact your claims agent please remember to
quote your reference number and batch number in all correspondence.
Ref. Number: 132/756/4534, Batch number: 638901527-AMB/02.
Furthermore you are seriously advised to keep all winning lottery
information and numbers from the public in line with our company
security protocol to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this
program by unscrupulous individuals. Please do not reply to this email,
contact your claims agent as instructed above.
On behalf of all our staff in Sun Trust Lottery Promotions
International, accept my Congratulations!

DR. PETER WETT.
Lottery Co-ordinator,
London, England.
**********************************************************************
Note: Participants below 21 years are automatically disqualified.
All e-mail transmission/correspondence are 100% protected by our Secure
Socket Layer (SSL) server.
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Anti-fraud resources: