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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: "HARMONY CAMPBELL" <international_lotteryrep124@rediffmail.com>
Date: 14 Sep 2006 03:35:27 -0000
Subject: CONGRATULATION \" YOU HAVE WON


&nbsp; FROM:THE DESK OF THE VICE PRESIDENT INTERNATIONAL&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; PROMOTIONS/PRIZE AWARDS DEPARTMENT&nbsp;NETHERLAND &nbsp;INTERNATIONAL SWEEPSTAKE LOTTERY COPORATION.
Date:12/9/2006&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Ref: 575061725 Batch: 8056490902/188 Winning Numbers 1 2 26 30 40 21 &nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; AWARD NOTIFICATION: FINAL NOTICE
Attn: Winner, We are pleased to inform you of the lottery result winners of&nbsp;Netherland International Lottery Programmes held on the 5th of August&nbsp; 2006 from the&nbsp;Netherland &nbsp;International Lottery programme. Which is fully based on an electronic selection of winners using their e-mail addresses.Your name was attached to ticket number; 675061725 9356460902 Serial Number 67749137002. This batch draws the lucky numbers as follows 1-2-26-30-40 bonus number 21, which consequently won the lottery in the second category. You are here by have been approved a lump sum pay of US$100,000.00 (ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS) in cash credit file ref: ILP/HW 46704/03 from the total cash prize shared amongst Four lucky winners in this category.
&nbsp; Due to mix up of some numbers and names, you are advised to keep your winning information confidential untill your claims has been processed and your money remitted to your nominated bank. This is part of our security protocol to avoid double claims and unwarranted abuse of this programme by some participants. All participants where selected through a computer/mail balloting system drawn from Nine hundred thousand E-mail addresses from Canada, Australia, United States, Asia, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Oceania as part of our international promotions program which is conducted annually. This Lottery was promoted and sponsored by a conglomorate of some multinational companies and also the&nbsp;Netherland Government as part of their social responsibility to the citizens in the commmunities where they have operational base. Further more your details (e-mail address) falls within our European representative office in Amsterdam, Holland, as indicated in your play coupon!
and your prize of US$100,000.00 will be released to you from our regional branch office in Amsterdam .&nbsp;&nbsp; We hope with part of your prize, you will participate in 2006 end of year high stakes for US$1.3 Million international draw.
HOW TO CLAIM YOUR PRIZE: Simply contact our claims agent, Mr.Raymond at :&nbsp;internationallotteryrep124@yahoo.comTo file for your claim . Please quote your Date of draw,Reference Number, Batch Number and Winning Number, which can be found on the top-left corner of this message. Also, you should give in your telephone number 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 has been released to you and also to the public. This is part of our security protocol to avoid double claiming and unwarranted taking advantage of this programme by non-participant or unofficial personnel.Note: All winnings MUST be claimed before the 30th of september2006, otherwise all funds will be forfeited. Congratulations once again on your winning!
BEST REGARDS&nbsp;HARMONY CAMPBELL&nbsp;(MR)(LOTTERY COORDINATOR)
PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS EMAIL. CONTACT YOUR CLAIMS AGENT AT : internationallotteryrep124@yahoo.com
ANY BREACH OF CONFIDENTIALITY ON THE PART OF WINNERS WILL RESULT TO DISQUALIFICATION

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