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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: "george clifford" <georgeclifford40@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: georgeclifford01@yahoo.com
Date: Tue, 29 Nov 2005 02:47:07 -0900
Subject: CONGRATULATION'S FOR BEING A LUCKY WINNER

Attention: Sir/Ma,

I am MR.GEORGE CLIFFORD the fiduciary agent assigned to your case. I wish to
Congratulate you on your victory, you are a lucky person to have won this
lottery. Your email address was amongst those chosen this quarter from our
new java-based software that randomly selects email addresses from the web
from which winners are selected. You are required to forward the following
details to help facilitate the processing of your claims and certificate
which will facilitate the release of your winnings. Your winning price is to
the tune of Two Million Euros, So you are advise to send your following
informations, to enable us process your payment.

1. Full names.
2. Address.
3. Phone number.
4. Fax number.
5. Occupation.
6. Sex.
7. Age.
8. Nationality.
9. Country of Residence.

You are advised to forward this information as soon as possible to enable us
attend to your winnings. Our firm has been contracted to handle payments on
your behalf, once we confirm your information, your payments would be
processed . Everything was done in such a way that our payments mode would
meet the standards set by the Lottery boards.After you have sent down these
information, a certificate will be prepared for you. This is to be your
proof of winning from this office to the payment center before they release
your funds.
Be advised that your winnings would be paid to you in Four(4) installments
of 500,000.00 Euros {Five Hundred Thousand Euros}. This is done because of
the amount won by you. This money would be paid to you on instalmental basis
via the Correspondent Bank of the Lottery promoters. You are advised to keep
your winning price secret to avoid unscrupulous elements from taking
advantage of the situation.
Note that due to past experiences, which resulted to counter claims, This
year's winners are required to treat this transaction with topmost
confidentiality, until you have received your funds in your bank account,
you are advise not to discuss your winning with any second party, not even
your Husband, Wife or Children. This was because we experienced a lot of
counter claims in the previous years Lottery programme, a situation whereby
two or more people claims to be one person, using almost thesame email
identification, thereby creating confusions, and this was as a result of the
winner innability to treat his transaction with absolute secrecy. In this
year's programmes, punisheable measure which attract a penalty of
disqualifications, has been in placed. So in the best of your interest, if
you must succeed in receiving your 2Million EURO's without counter claims,
you are advise to treat the whole operation with top most confidentiality.
Once again, congratulations.
Sincerely,

MR. GEORGE CLIFFORD.
GEORGE CLIFFORD & ASSOCIATE
PRACTICE AREAS:-
Banking / Finance
Intellectual Property
Charities
Litigation/Dispute Resolution
Competition
Private Client
Corporate/Public Employment
Real Estate / Property
Environment
Shipping
Family
Tax


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