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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: micro soft <gainers017@hotmail.com>
Date: Fri, 29 Jun 2007 21:36:35 -0400
Subject: NOTIFICATION FOR CASH AID DEVELOPMENT



NOTIFICATION FOR CASH AID DEVELOPMENTFondazion Di Vittorio > ITALY.http://www.fondazionedivittorio.itATTENTION GRANT BENEFICIARY:
The Foundazion di Vittorio, would like to notify you that you have been chosen through electronic balloting of email address by the board of trustees as one of the final recipients of aGrant/Donation cash aid of US $950,000.00 (Ninehundred and fifty thousand United states Dollars) as charity donations/aid from the Vittorio Foundation. The processing of your grant/donation cash aid as this will ensure efficiency in our services, mean while you will be given your donation pin number and payment-release-order-form, which you will use in collecting the funds. Please endeavor to quote your Qualification numbers (N-222-6747, E-900-56) in all discussions.1.Grant name...................2.Grant Address................3.Grant Age....................4.Grant Telephone Numbers......5.Grant Marital Status.........6.Grant Sex....................7.Grant Next Of Kin............8.Grant Zip Code...............9.Grant Occupation.............10.Grant State:................11.Grant Country...............12.Grant Nationality...........CONTACT DETIALS BELOW:THE INTERNATIONAL CLAIMS OFFICER.===========================================CONTACT NAME: Riccardo VaraniniEMAIL:thedonationsoffice1@yahoo.ie=========================================== Yours faithfully,Mr. Gianni Mattioli.(Foundezion officer)
_________________________________________________________________
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Anti-fraud resources: