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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: Brian Hunt <breanhunt33@hotmail.com>
Date: Sat, 1 Sep 2007 19:50:45 +0000
Subject: CONGRATULATION !!!!! YOU !!!! HAVE !!!! WON!!!!



The National lotteryP O Box 1010Liverpool, L70 1NLUNITED KINGDOM(Customer Services)Ref:UK/9420X2/68Batch:074/05/ZY369 WINNING NOTIFICATION: We happily announce to you the draw (#966) of the UK NATIONALLOTTERY,online Sweepstakes International program held on 31 Aug, 2007.Your e-mail address attached to ticket number:56475600545 188 withSerialnumber 5368/02 drew the lucky numbers: 05 21 23 28 40 48 26 Bonus Ball which subsequently won you the lottery in the 2ndcategoryi.ematch 5 plus bonus.You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of£250,000 (Two hundred and fifty thousand pounds sterlings)in cashcredited to file KTU/9023118308/03.This is from a total cash prize of £1,000,000 shared amongst the firstfour(5)lucky winners in this category i.e Match 5 plus bonus.All participants for the online version were selected randomly from WorldWide Web sites through computer draw system and extracted fromover 100,000unions,associations, and corporate bodies that are listedonline.This promotiontakes place weekly.Please note that your lucky winning number falls within our European bookletrepresentative office in Europe as indicated in your playcoupon.In viewof this, your £250,000 (Two hundred and fifty thousand poundssterlings)would be released to you by any of ourpayment offices inEurope. Our European agent will immediately commence theprocess tofacilitate the release of your funds as soon as you contact him.Forsecurityreasons, you are advised to keep your winning information confidentialyour claim is processed and your money remitted to you in whatevermanneryou deem fit to claim your prize. This is part of our precautionary measure to avoid double claimingand unwarranted abuse of this program. Please be warned.To file for your claim, please contact our claims agent:Mr:John MarkEMAIL: agent_johnmark1@yahoo.no Goodluck from me and members of staff of the UK NATIONAL LOTTERY.Yours faithfully,Brian HuntOnline coordinator for UK NATIONAL LOTTERY,Sweepstakes International Program.Open 7 days 8am-8pm
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