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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: "steve dickson" <dickson-stev15@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: stevedickson2007@sify.com
Date: Fri, 06 Apr 2007 19:03:37 +0100
Subject: YOUR EMAIL HAS WON YOU 2.5M EUROS.

CONGRATULATIONS FROM
MEGA-BUCK LOTTO
AMSTERDAM-NEDERLAND
REF NUMBER: 014/060/532
BATCH NUMBER: 762901-PCD03
Sir/Madam,
We are pleased to inform you of the result of the
Lottery Winners International programs held on the
2nd April, 2007. Your e-mail address attached to ticket number
27522465896-6453 with serial number 3772-554 drew lucky numbers
7-14-18-23-31-45 which consequently
won in the 2nd category, you have therefore been approved for a lump sum pay
out of
2,500,000(TWO MILLION FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND EUROS).
CONGRATULATIONS!!!
For security purpose and clarity, we advise that you keep your winning
information confidential until your claims have been processed and your
money remitted to you. This is part of our security protocol to avoid
double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program by some participants.
All participants were selected through a computer ballot system drawn from
over 20,000 companies and 30,000,000 individual email addresses and names
from all over the world. This promotional program takes place every year.
This lottery was promoted and sponsored by eminent personalities like the
Sultan of Brunei. We look forward to your active participation in our next
year 50 million EUROS slot. You are requested to contact our clearance
office to assist you with the claim and transfer of your winnings fund into
your instructed account by acknowledging the receipt of this mail with the
email address below.
Email address: stevedickson2007@sify.com Note that, all winnings must be
claimed not later than
one month. After this date all unclaimed funds will be null and void.
Please note in order to avoid unnecessary delays and
complications, remember to quote your reference number and batch numbers in
all correspondence.
Furthermore, should there be any change of address do inform our agent as
soon as possible. Congratulations once more and thank you for being
part of our promotional program.

Sincerely yours,
STEVE DICKSON

_________________________________________________________________
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