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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: van borsch <van-bosch5@hotmail.com>
Date: Wed, 4 Jul 2007 03:33:49 -0400
Subject: TIME TO CELEBRATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


TIME TO CELEBRATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!EUROPEAN UNION LOTTERY PRIZE AWARD
Dear Sir/Madam,We bring to your notice the results of the first EUROPEAN LOTTO PROMO INT. We are happy to inform you that you have emerged as a winner under the First Category, which is part of our promotional draws. The draws are being officially announced today 4th,July 2007. Participants were selected through a computer ballot system.
Your e-mail address, attached to ticket number 9885, with serial number 290-7877 and lucky number P-23517consequently won in the First Category. You have therefore been awarded a prize sum pay out of 920,000.00 (Nine hundred and twenty thousand Euros), which is the winning payout for Category A winners.
In your best interest to avoid mix up of numbers and names of any kind, we request that you keep the entire details of your award strictly personal until the process of transferring your claims has been completed. Please contact our paying bank immediately for due processing and remittance of your prize money to a designated account of your choice: Find below your Wining numbers. Remember to quote these numbers in your correspondence with your paying bank.REF Number: NM/BC921245/KY14BATCH No: NM/207161/WOP.CONGRATULATIONS!!!Your fund is now deposited with the paying Bank. To begin your claims, kindly contact the paying bank with the below information:********************************************************************************************************Contact person: Mr. James Milton. (International Remittance Department).E-mail: frontconsultant@aim.com
***********************************************Kindly furnish them with the following:(i).YOUR FULL NAME(S),(ii) YOUR TELEPHONE AND FAX NUMBER(iii) YOUR CONTACT ADDRESS(iv) YOUR WINNING INFORMATION(including amount won). Congratulations.NOTE: All claims are nullified after 20 working days from today.Congratulations once again from all our staff, and thank you for being part of our promotions program. Yours Sincerely,Mr Van Borsch(Online Lottery Coordinator).

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