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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: "UK NATIONAL LOTTERY" <europesweepstake_onlinelottery2005@msn.com>
Date: Sat, 31 Dec 2005 01:29:38 +0000
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS!!! YOU ARE ONE OF OUR END OF YEAR WINNERS

British Flag
WINNING NOTIFICATION
EUROPE SWEEPSTAKES
BRITISH NATIONAL LOTTERY HEADQUARTERS:
CUSTOMER SERVICE
28 TAN FIELD ROAD,
CROYDON, LONDON.
Ref: UK/9420X2/68
Batch: 074/05/ZY369
............................................
............................................
...........................................
WINNING NOTIFICATIONS:
We happily announce to you Europe's  "end of year" sweepstakes 10th anniversary draw held Yesterday in London. Your e-mail address attached to ticket number:56475600545 188 with Serial number 5388/02 drew the lucky numbers:14,21,25,39,40,40,47(20),which subsequently won you the lottery in the 1st category. You are therefore, been approved to claim a total sum of £253,437.00 in cash credited to file KPC/9080118308/02 This is from a total cash prize of £2,534,370.00 shared amongst the first Ten (10) lucky winners in this category. This year's Lottery Program Jackpot is the 5th largest ever in the history of Europe Sweepstakes.
The estimated £253,437.00 jackpot would be the eleventh biggest in U.K. history. The biggest was the £363 million jackpot that went to two winners in a May 2000 drawing of The Big Game, Mega Millions' predecessor. Please note that your lucky winning number falls within our European booklet representative office in Europe as indicated in our play coupon. In view of this, your £253,437.00 would be released to you by either our affiliate bank or courier .
Our agent will immediately commence the process to facilitate the release of your funds to you as soon as you make contact with her. All participants were selected randomly from World Wide Web site through computer draw system and extracted from over 1,000,000 companies. This promotion takes place annually. For security reasons, you are advised to keep your winning information confidential till your claims is processed and your money remitted to you in whatever manner you deem fit to claim your prize. This is part of our precautionary measure to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program by some unscrupulous elements. Please be warned. To file for your claim, please contact our fiduciary agent with the below details for processing of your claims.
AGENT: Betty Giggs
TEL :+44 702 305 9837
To avoid unnecessary delays and complications, please quote your reference/batch numbers in any correspondences with us or our designated agent. Congratulations once more from all members and staff of this program. Thank you for being part of our promotional lottery program.
Sincerely,
Notification Dept.
Europe Sweepstakes
 
Note: Anybody under the the age of  16 is automatically disqualified.
 
 
 
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