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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: david james <d_james100018@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: <davidjames111@yahoo.com>
Date: Wed, 15 Aug 2007 04:16:52 -0400
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS!!!



OVERSEAS/ AFRO EURO STAKES LOTTERY INTERNATIONAL LOTTERY ORGANISATIONS. ADD: 37 GREYSTOCK ROAD CAMBRIDGE CB1 8DS UNITED KINGDOM. Email: patrickanderton112@yahoo.comREF NUMBER; OSL/653/029/03 BATCH NUMBER;AT-040-SB06-03
CONGRATULATIONS!!!
ATTENTION: Sir\Madam,
We are pleased to inform you that as a result of our recent lottery draws held on 10th May2007.Your Name and Email address attached to ticket number 27522465896-532 with serial number 652-662 drew lucky number 7-14-18-23-31-45 which consequently won 2nd category. You have therefore been approved for a lump sum pay out of US$2,500,000.00(UNITED STATES DOLLARS)
Note: ALL participants in this lottery program have been selected randomly through a computer ballot system drawn from over 20,000 Companies and 30,000,000 individual Names, email addresses from all search engines and web sites. This promotional program takes place every year, and is promoted and sponsored by eminent personalities like the Sultan of Brunei, Bill Gates Of Microsoft inc, Multi Choice, china site and other corporate organizations. This is to encourage the use of the internet and computers worldwide. For security purpose and clarity, we advise that you keep your winnings information’s confidential until your claims have been processed and your money remitted to you. This is part of our security protocol to avoid double claims and unwarranted abuse of this program by some participants. We look forward to your active participation in our next year US$50 Million slot. You are requested to contact our clearance officer below to assist you with your winning and subsequent payments. All winnings must be claimed not later than one month After the date of this notice .Please note, in order to avoid unnecessary delay and complications remember to quote your reference number and batch numbers in all correspondence.
Furthermore, should there be any change of addresses do inform our agent as soon as possible. Congratulations once more and thank you for being part of our promotional program.
NOTE; YOU ARE AUTOMATICALLY DISQUALIFIED IF YOU ARE BELOW 20 YEARS OF AGE. Sincerely yours
FOR FURTHER INFORMATIONS CONTACT. NAME: MR PATRICK ANDERTON.

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See what you’re getting into…before you go there
http://newlivehotmail.com/?ocid=TXT_TAGHM_migration_HM_viral_preview_0507

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