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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: Susan Smith <london2012_committee@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: london2012committee@yahoo.com
Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2006 05:36:25 +0100
Subject: Hello


Ref: NET.23516054/06
Batch: 37/0051/JBL
Winning No: Quote 3/4
CONGRATULATIONS
Dear Winner
We are delighted to inform you of your prize released on the 3rd of July 2006 from the London 2012 Lottery programme. Your name "email address" was attached to ticket number: B/7056490902, serial number: 52113-072. This batch draws the lucky numbers as follows 6, 5, 1, 4, 6, 2 bonus number 1, which consequently won the lottery in the second category.
You hereby have been approved lump sum pay of GBP 420,000.00 (FOUR HUNDRED AND TWENTY THOUSAND POUNDS) in cash credited to file ref: ILP/HW 474061720/05 from the total cash prize of GBP 14, 000,000.00 shared amongst sixteen lucky winners, based on their category.
All participants "email address" were selected through a computer balloting system drawn form Nine hundred thousand names from Canada, Australia, United States, Asia, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Oceanic as part of our international promotions program, which is conducted annually. This Lottery was promoted and sponsored by some multinational companies as part of the fund raising towards the successful hosting of the 2012 Olympic games also, as their social responsibility to the citizens in the communities where they have operational base. We hope with part of your prize, you will participate in our end of year high stakes for GBP 300 Million Pounds international draw.

Please do contact:
Mr. Patrick Cole (london2012committee@yahoo.com)
LCI LOTTERY ORGANISATION.
Phone: +44-701-701-4977
Fax: +44-701-701-4987
LCI ORGANISATION
PARADISE WALKS
LONDON
SW3 4JL
Please quote your reference, batch and winning number which can be found on the top left corner of this notification as well as your full names and address to help locate your file easily.
For security reasons, we advice all winners to keep this information confidential from the public until your claim is processed and your prize released to you. This is part of our security protocol to avoid dual claiming and unwarranted taking advantage of this program by non-participant or unofficial personnel. Note, all winnings MUST be claimed a specified date; Friday, 14th of August, 2006 otherwise YOUR PRIZE will be returned as Unclaimed and eventually donated to charity.

Congratulations once again on your winnings!
Best Regards,
Susan Smith (co-ordinator).

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