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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: Tara McMeans <t_mcmeans17@hotmail.com>
Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2007 06:59:08 -0400
Subject: CONTACT ALVIN WILSON TO CLAIM YOUR PRIZE MONEY



The Loteria Nacional P O Box 1010 London, L89 1NL UNITED KINGDOM (Customer Services)

Ref: LN/1002/096/WINBatch: 077/07/RE46

WINNING NOTIFICATION: We happily announce to you the draw(#1003) of the LOTERIA NACIONAL, online Sweepstakes program held on Saturday 8th of September,2007.Your e-mail address attached to ticket number:56477700542388 with Serial number 8400/07 drew the lucky numbers:08-11-15-31-36-46-20 , which subsequently won you the lottery in the 1st category. You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of £203,568 (Two hundred and three thousand five hundred and sixty eight Pounds Sterling)in cash credited to file KTU/9023118308/03.This is from a total cash prize of £1,221,408 shared amongst the six (6) lucky winners in this Category i.e. Match 5 plus bonus. All participants for the online version were selected randomly from World Wide Web sites through computer draw system and extracted from over 100,000 unions, associations, and corporate bodies that are listed online. This promotion takes place weekly. Please note that your lucky winning number falls within our European booklet representative Office in Europe as indicated in your play coupon. In view of this, your £203,568 (Two hundred and three thousand five hundred and sixty eight Pounds Sterling) would be released to you by any of our payment offices in Europe. Our European agent will immediately commence the process to facilitate the release of your funds as soon as you contact him. For security reasons, you are advised to keep your winning information confidential till your claims is processed and your money remitted to you in whatever manner you deem fit to claim your prize. This is part of our precautionary measure to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program. Please be warned. To file for your claim, please contact our fiduciary agent: Mr. Alvin Wilson Email: alvin_wilson74@yahoo.com : alvin_wilson14@excite.com
Yours faithfully, MRS TARA MCMEANS. Online Co-coordinator Loteria Nacional Sweepstakes Copyright 1996-2007


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