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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: "FREELOTTO SWEEPSTAKES" <lottojames@aim.com> (may be fake)
Reply-To: lottery.winner@claranet.de
Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2007 14:13:54 +0100
Subject: SUB: YOUR NEW YEAR WINNING NOTIFICATION


FREELOTTO SWEEPSTAKES
P.O BOX 4562,
GRAND CENTRAL STATION,
NEW YORK, NY 10163.
UNITED STATE OF AMERICA.
REF: FLUS/2031/8161/05
BATCH: R3/A312-59

WINNING NOTIFICATION

WE ANNOUNCE TO YOU THE DRAW (#999) HELD ON 16TH OF LAST MONTH

YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS ATTACHED TO TICKETNUMBER: 56475600545 188 WITH SERIAL NUMBER 5368/02 DREW THE LUCKY NUMBERS: 04,29,39,41,43,45,42. THIS SUBSEQUENTLY WON YOU THE MATCH 5 PLUS BONUS.

YOU HAVE THEREFORE BEEN APPROVED TO CLAIM A TOTAL SUM OF USD$1,000,000.00 (ONE MILLION UNITED STATE DOLLARS) IN CASH CREDITED TO FILE NO: KTU/9023118308/03.

ALL PARTICIPANTS FOR THE ONLINE VERSION WERE SELECTED RANDOMLY FROM THE WORLD WIDE WEB (WWW) THROUGH A COMPUTER DRAW SYSTEM AND EXTRACTED FROM OVER 100,000 UNIONS, ASSOCIATIONS, INDIVIDUALS AND CORPORATE BODIES EMAIL ADDRESSES THAT ARE LISTED ONLINE.

THIS PROMOTION TAKES PLACE QUATERLY. IN VIEW OF THESE, YOUR USD$1,000,000.00 WOULD BE RELEASED TO YOU BY ANY OF OUR PAYMENT OFFICE .

TO APPLY FOR YOUR CLAIM, PLEASE CONTACT OUR ONLINE CLAIM AGENT BELOW:-

MS. CLARA ROBERT.
ONLINE CLAIM PROCESSING DEPT.
FREELOTTO SWEEPSTAKES
EMAIL:lottery.winner@claranet.de

ENDEAVOUR FORWARD TO COPY OF THIS WINNING EMAIL WITH ALONG WITH THE FOLLOWINGS INFORMATION(S) BELOW:-
YOUR FIRST AND LAST NAMES:
YOUR COMPLETE HOME ADDRESS
YOUR MARITAL STATUS:
YOUR OCCUPATION:
YOUR AGE:
YOUR SEX:
YOUR NATIONALITY:
YOUR DIRECT TEL AND FAX NO.

THAT WAY YOUR WINNINGS CERTIFICATE AND ALL OTHER RELEVANT DOCUMENTS / PAPERWORK CAN BE PREPARED FOR YOU SO THAT OUR PAYMENT OFFICE WILL RELEASE YOUR WINNING TO YOU.

YOU ARE ADVISED TO KEEP YOUR WINNING INFORMATION CONFIDENTIAL UNTILL YOUR CLAIMS IS PROCESSED AND RELEASE, THIS IS PART OF OUR PRECAUTIONARY MEASURE TO AVOID DOUBLE CLAIMING AND UNWARRANTED ABUSE OF THIS PROGRAM.

NOTE THAT ALL WINNING MUST BE CLAIM NOT LATER THAN TWO (2) WEEKS, PLEASE BE WARNED AND TREAT AS URGENT.

CONGRATULATIONS IN ADVANCE!!!

JAMES STILLMAN
INFORMATION CENTER
FREE LOTTO - USA


This transmission may contain information that is privileged, confidential and exempt from disclosure under applicable law. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution, or use of the information contained herein (including any reliance thereon) is STRICTLY PROHIBITED, if you received this transmission in error, please immediately contact the sender and destroy the material in its entirety, whether is electronic or hard copy format. Thank you.

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