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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: "GOOGLE LOTTERY INTERNATIONAL" <claimsdepartment.dr@hotmail.com>
Date: Thu, 27 Mar 2008 15:50:23 -1200
Subject: CATEGORY "A" DRAWS

FROM: THE LOTTERY COORDINATOR,
GOOGLE LOTTERY INTERNATIONAL
RESULTS FOR CATEGORY "A" DRAWS

PROMOTION DATE 26TH OF MARCH 2008.
REFERENCE NUMBER: GLLINT/07/04/768970118.
BATCH NUMBER: 78/09/230.

Congratulations to you as we bring to your notice, the
results of the first category draws of E-MAIL LOTTERY
organised by GOOGLE INTERNATIONAL. We are happy to inform
you that your email address have emerged a winner of
£850,000.00 (Eight Hundred and Fifty Thousand Pounds),
which is the winning payout for Category A winners. This is
from the total prize money of £3.6 Million pounds shared
among the (4) lucky winners in this category. Participants
were selected through a computer ballot system drawn from
2,500,000 email addresses of individuals and companies from
Africa, America, Asia, Australia, Europe, Middle East, and
Oceania as part of our International Promotions Program.
CONGRATULATIONS! 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 from public notice
until the process of transferring your claims has been
completed, and your funds remitted to you. NOTE: To file for
your claim, please contact the claims department below on
email and provide him with the below details for
verification.

Claims Realease Verification Form Requirement:
1.Full Name :
2.Address :
3.Nationality :
4.Age :
5.Sex :
6.Occupation:
7.Phone/Fax:
8.Present Country:
******************
CONTACT PERSON:
MR. DEMIS RITAKIS
EMAIL: claimsdepartment.dr@hotmail.com
***************************************
Note: You are advised to keep your winning
details/information confidential to avoid fraudulent claim
by your fellow or pending the transfer/claim by
you.Congratulations once again from all our staff and thank
you for being part of our promotions program.

Sincerely Yours,
Mrs Joyce Gram.
THE PROMOTION COORDINATOR

Anti-fraud resources: