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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: "mega lottery" <megalottery_1@hotmail.com>
Date: Thu, 02 Feb 2006 15:17:18 +0200
Subject: SPECIAL WINNING NOTIFICATION.

MASTER MEGA-MILLION
LOTTERY
     
SPECIAL WINNING NOTIFICATION
 
... BE NOTIFIED THAT ON
THURSDAY THE 26TH OF JANUARY 2006
 
YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS  WAS SELECTED ON THE
 THE COMPUTER PROMOTIONAL BALLOT SYSTEM DRAW, AS ONE OF THE WINNING EMAIL ADDRESS ON THE INTERNET COMPUTER LOTTERY DRAW.
 
THE PROGRAM WAS HELD BY THE SOUTH AFRICAN LEADING LOTTERY ORGANIZATION, KNOWN AS...
 
...MASTER MEGA-MILLION LOTTERY
 
THERE WAS A COMPUTER BALLOT WHICH QUALIFIED YOU AS ONE OF THE WINNER OF THE SUM OF
 
US$ 2,000,000,00
(TWO MILLION, UNITED STATES DOLLAR)
 
FOR MORE ENQUIRIES AND  INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
THE DIRECTOR OF INFORMATION
INFORMATION DEPARTMENT ON EMAIL ADDRESS:
 
PLEASE NOTE THAT BECAUSE OF THE INTERNET LOTTERY SCAMS, WE COULD NOT EXPOSE YOUR WINNING DETAILS, SO THAT THE SCAMMERS COULD NOT BE ABLE TO GET YOUR WINNING INFORMATION.
 
 
FOR YOUR URGENT CLAIM...
 
...CONTACT OUR INFORMATION DEPARTMENT IMMEDIATELY, SO THAT THEY WILL FURNISH YOU WITH YOUR WINNING NUMBERS, LUCKY DRAW NUMBERS, INSURANCE NUMBERS, REFERENCE AND BATCH NUMBERS, WHICH YOU WILL USE TO CLAIM YOUR PRIZE. 
 
YOU HAVE TO BE AWARE THAT
YOUR CLAIM AGENT IS  
 
 
EAGLE TREASURE SA
 
...WE WILL ALSO FURNISH YOU WITH THE DETAILS OF YOUR CLAIM AGENT, EAGLE TREASURE SA, AS SOON AS YOU RESPOND BY CONTACTING OUR INFORMATION DEPARTMENT.
 
THIS MESSAGE WAS SENT TO YOU BY:
 
THE CHAIRMAN, LOTTERY ORGANIZER,
 
MR. JABULANI THABO
DIRECTOR OF PROMOTION, 
MASTER MEGA-MILLION  LOTTERY.
6115 LILIAN ROAD, FORDSBURG, 2092
P O BOX 906171
MARSHALL TOWN 2107
Johannesburg, South Africa.
 
MASTER MEGA-MILLION LOTTERY
 
BRIEF INFORMATION:
 
There was a computer ballot that was organized by the MASTER MEGA-MILLION LOTTERY here in South Africa.
 
It was not an individual lotto playing, but the computer itself picked out from all over the world. 
1,000,000 email addresses was selected and picked from the Internet,  so those email addresses of Participants that was selected and picked from the internet were again selected through a computer ballot system drawn from among the 1,000,000 email addresses of individuals and companies from all part of the world, this is called the computer ballot.
 
And 7 email addresses was finally picked out from among the total 1,000,000 email addresses, and out of those 7 email addresses, your email address won on the ballot.
 
You have to note that this program is being sponsured by the FIFA SUPPORT AFRICAN TEAM, to creat awareness for the coming 2010 world Cup, which is to be host by South Africa.
--

Anti-fraud resources: