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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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Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: "nationalemailaward.org" <info@nationalemailaward.org>
Date: Thu, 11 May 2006 13:48:36 +0100
Subject: MICROSOFT PROMOTION YOUR EMAIL HAVE WON!!!


MICROSOFT PROMOTION YOUR EMAIL HAVE WON!!!
Boeing Avenue 33
6612 PE Schiphol-Rijk.
The Netherlands. RESULTS FOR CATEGORY "A" DRAWS Congratulations to you as we bring to your notice,
the results of the First Category draws of MICROSOFT PROMOTION INT. We
are happy to inform you that you have emerged a winner under the First
Category, which is part of our promotional draws. The draws are being
officially announced today 11th of May, 2006. Participants were
selected through acomputer ballot system drawn from 2,500,000
emailaddresses of individuals and companies from Africa, America, Asia,
Australia,Europe,Middle East,and Oceania as part of our International
Promotions Program.Your e-mail address, attached to ticket number QZ-316-NL, with
serial number 8222-66 drew the lucky numbers 9-17-5-73-8-11 and
consequently won in the First Category.You have therefore been awarded
alump sum pay out of 1,000,000 (One Million Euros), which is the winning payout
for Category A winners.This is from the total prize money 1,500,000
shared among the two winners in this category CONGRATULATIONS!
Your fund is now deposited with the paying Bank.
In your best interest to avoid Disqualification we request that you
keep theentire details of your award strictly from public notice until
the process of transferring your claims has been completed, and your
funds remitted to your account.this is part of our security protocol to
avoid double claiming orunscrupulous acts by non winners of this
program.You are advised to contact claim department by email.Failure to
do so may warrant disqualification.
NOTE: For easy reference and identification, find below your Reference
and Batch numbers. Remember to quote these numbers in your
correspondencewith your claims Department.
REFERENCE NUMBER: LSLUK/2031/8161/04
BATCH NUMBER: 14/011/IPD
Please contact microsoftclaim department immediately for due
processing andremittance of your prize money to a designated account of
your choice: ********************************************************************************
Dr Roy Hans
Tel.:+31-633785383
Email: microsoftclaim20@netscape.net
***************************************************************
N.B: Any breach of confidentiality on the part of the winners will
result to disqualification. Contact your claim agent immediately.
Sincerely Yours,
MRS. MARISKA NOWAK.
THE PROMOTION COORDINATOR.
MICROSOFT NL

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