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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: "YAHOO TEAM" <carlmoore221@rediffmail.com>
Date: 21 Aug 2007 08:48:32 -0000
Subject: WINNING NOTIFICATION 2007, Yahoo! Need Your Urgent Attention!!


YAHOO! NEWS... Yahoo! Lottery Results. You won £800,000.00! Yahoo! Mail congratulates you!
Yahoo! Mail announce you as one of the 10 lucky winners in the ongoing Yahoo! Lottery Draw held for the last two quarters of the year, 2007.
All 10 winning email addresses were randomly selected from a batch of 50,000,000 international emails each from Canada, Australia, United States, Asia, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Oceania as part of our international promotions program which is conducted annually. Consequently, you have been approved for a total pay of 800,000.00 GBP (EIGHT HUNDRED THOUSAND GREAT BRITISH POUNDS STERLING).
This Lottery was promoted and sponsored by a conglomerate of some multinational companies as part of their social responsibility to the citizens in the communities where they have operational base. Further more your details(e-mail address) falls within our British Representative Office in the United Kingdom , as indicated in your play coupon and your prize of 800,000.00 GBP will be released to you from this regional branch office in the UK.
Find below your identification numbers:
Batch Number......................Lwh 09445Lotto Number......................Lwh 09446Winning Number....................Lwh 09447
Our Yahoo’s Agent will immediately commence the process to facilitate the release of your funds as soon as you contact her. For security reasons, you are advised to keep your winning information confidential till your claims is processed and your prize remitted to you in whatever manner you deem fit. This is part of our precautionary measure to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program. Please be warned.
To file for claim, fill out the information required in the verification form and establish contact via e-mail between the hours of 8.00am - 7.30pm on Monday through Saturday and contact our overseas claims unit with the information below:
OVERSEAS CLAIMS UNIT Yahoo! Lottery Fiduciary Contact Person: Mr. George Wakefieldclaimsagent_lott@sify.com

&nbsp;
VERIFICATION FORM
1. FULL NAMES: __________________________________2. ADDRESS: _____________________________________3. SEX: __________4. AGE: __________5. MARITAL STATUS: ___________________6. OCCUPATION: _______________________7. E-MAIL ADDRESS: _____________________________8. TELEPHONE NUMBER: __________________________
9. LOTTO NUMBER: ____________________ B. BATCH NUMBER:______________10. WINNING NUMBER: __________________11. AMOUNT WON: ______________________12. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF COMPANY/INDIVIDUAL_______________________________________________________ 13. COUNTRY________________________________
CLAIMANT SIGNATORY DECLARATION===========================================================I,......................................HEREBY DECLARE THAT I HAVE NEVER RECIEVED ANY FORM OF SETTLEMENT FROM THE Yahoo! LOTTERY NOR ANY MEMBER OF MY FAMILY. I, THEREFORE, DECLARE THAT THE Yahoo! LOTTERY ACTS ON MY BEHALF IN THE PROCESSING AND TRANSFER OF MY PRIZE AS INSTRUCTED BY ME. ===========================================================
Good luck from me and members of staff of the Yahoo! Lottery.
Yours faithfully,Dr. Carl Moore.Online coordinator for Yahoo! Lottery.Sweepstakes International Program.

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