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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: "award notification" <awardnotification16@msn.com>
Date: Mon, 19 Dec 2005 14:46:16 +0000
Subject: CONGRATULATION: AWARD WINNING NOTIFICATION!!!!!!!!!!!

GATEWAY® INTERNATIONAL LOTTERY B.V.
's Gravenweg 252
2911 CL Den Haag
The Netherlands.

FROM THE DESK OF THE PROMOTIONS MANAGER,
INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS/PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT.
REF: GW/ Lo622/008
BATCH: 009/6548/NL

ATTENTION: WINNING NOTIFICATION/FINAL NOTICE.

We are pleased to inform you that you are part of the winners at the recent
GATEWAY LOTTERY INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS held Saturday the 17th of December,
2005. You are hereby attached to ticket number 51-8210-11842 with serial
numbers 3679-08,which drew the lucky numbers 99-19-40-58-74-26, and
consiquently won the lottery in the 2nd category. You have therefore been
approved for a lump sum payment of $500,000:00 (THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY
THOUSAND US DOLLARS ONLY) credited to file;

REF.No GW/ Lo622/008,
BATCH No. 009/6548/NL,

from total prize money of $50 Million among the various international
winners in this category. All participants were selected through a computer
ballot system drawn from 50,000 Internet Users from all over the world as
part of International Lottery Promotions Program, which is conducted once in
a year. Your funds are now deposited in a financial institute Insured and
attached with your Email address/ Ref / Batch and ticket numbers. Due to
security reasons, we ask that you keep this award strictly from public
notice until your claim has been processed and your funds remitted to your
designated bank account. This is part of our security protocol to avoid
double claims or unscrupulous acts by lucky winners of this program. We hope
with part of your Award Prize, you will be included in the forthcoming
stakes of $100 Million Dollars International Lottery Promotions. For due
processing and the remittance of your prize money to a designated account of
your choice,please contact your claim agent;

DR. HANS FLETCHER
International Service Coordinator
Email: hansonfletcher@netscape.net
Tel : 0031 627 396 636

Remember: All prize money must be claimed not later than 31st December 2005.
After which,unclaimed funds will be returned to the treasury.
In order to avoid unnecessary delays and complications, always remember to
quote your REF: & BATCH numbers to any of our correspondences worldwide.
Furthermore, should there be any change of your address, do inform your
claims agent as quickly as possible.

N:B .....Any breach of our security protocol / policy on the part of any
winners will result to disqualification.

CONGRATULATIONS once again from all our members of staff and thanks for
being part of the computer promotions program. Note: Anybody under the age
of 18 is automatically disqualified.
Principals and employees of the Gateway Lottery Promotions and its
respective,subsidiaries and their immediate families are not eligible.

Sincerely,
Mrs Stacey van Hartman
THE PROMOTIONS SECRETARY
GATEWAY® SOFTWARE B.V.
THE NETHERLANDS.

NB: PLEASE SEE THAT YOU QUOTE YOUR REF.AND BATCH NUMBERS IN YOUR
CORRESPONDENCE TO YOUR CLAIMS AGENT.DR. HANS FLETCHER .
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Gateway Lottery Promos. Awards is proudly sponsored by the Microsoft
Corporation, the Intel Group, Toshiba, Dell computers, Mckintosh and a
conglomeration of other international IT companies. The Gateway LOTTERY
internet draw in each quarter of the year and is so organized to encourage
the use of the internet and computers worldwide. We are proud to say that up
to One Million Euros are won annually in more than 150 Countries worldwide.


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